Real Madrid are now sniffing around Chelsea once more and reportedly want to take another of their stars to the Spanish capital in the not too distant future, according to a fresh report.
Chelsea and Real Madrid do regular transfer business
Prior to the arrival of Todd Boehly and Enzo Maresca, Chelsea and Real Madrid have not been strangers to doing transfer business together. 18 players have played for both clubs, and Eden Hazard, Antonio Rudiger and Thibaut Courtois have all made the move fromthe Premier League giants to the Santiago Bernabeu in recent seasons, all to differing outcomes.
Prior to that, the likes of Ricardo Carvalho and Arjen Robben also made the switch, while Mateo Kovacic, Claude Makelele and Alvaro Morata have all moved the other way.
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The Blues are keen to strengthen their backline under the former Leicester City boss.
In recent years, it seemed most likely that Reece James would be the next one to tread that path, with reports claiming that Los Blancos were eyeing a move for the Englishman to replace Dani Carvajal 12 months ago.
However, no such move materialised, and injuries have halted Reece James' career once more after he missed most of last season following surgery. In the time since, Real Madrid have changed their focus, and now want to sign England teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold, who will become a free agent at the end of the current campaign and could well leave Liverpool to join friend Jude Bellingham in Spain.
Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold
Though that may spell good news for Chelsea, Real Madrid's newfound interest in one of James' teammates at Stamford Bridge may be far worse.
Real Madrid want "special" Chelsea man
That comes as a shock report in Spain claims that Real Madrid are now monitoring Chelsea talisman Cole Palmer ahead of a potential move for the England international. Palmer found the net twice in the 4-2 win over Tottenham to take his tally to 11 goals for the season alongside six assists, and helping Chelsea move up to second in the Premier League in the process.
In fact, since moving to Stamford Bridge a little over 12 months ago, the former Manchester City man has blossomed into one of the Premier League's best players, registering 50 goal contributions in just 47 outings.
After his latest performance, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher dubbed him a "special" player and one of the best in Europe.
“He is going to go down as one of the biggest players for Chelsea if he keeps doing what he is doing. He is a very special player, and that’s not just in the Premier League it is in Europe and world football as well”, he explained.
Cole Palmer in the Premier League since joining Chelsea
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Minutes per goal/assist
And that has reportedly caught the eye of the European Champions, with the report claiming that Real Madrid "have him in their sights" for a future window and Florentino Perez values "both the midfielder's footballing qualities and his potential to become a global icon", in keeping with his former Galacticos project.
In truth, any deal in the near future seems highly unlikely, with Palmer and Bellingham already fighting for the same position for England, and likely to end up doing so for Real Madrid.
That is even before the cost of the operation is taken into account, with Palmer still having a mammoth nine years left to run on his £130,000 a week deal at Stamford Bridge and not agitating for a move, which would likely force Real Madrid to put up a record fee to land the Englishman.
With Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Arda Güler all among the stable of young talent already at Carlo Ancelotti's disposal, and Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr both key memebers of the squad, adding Palmer seems more like a pipe dream than a reality.