Chelsea duo Eden Hazard and Thibaut Courtois are reportedly Real Madrid’s top transfer targets for the summer.
The Spanish giants have struggled to keep pace in La Liga this season and currently sit 16 points off the top.
As a result, the European champions are looking to overhaul their squad this summer in order to keep pace with league leaders Barcelona, who have officially announced the signing of Philippe Coutinho.
According to Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert Guillem Balague, Madrid are looking to sign big names to give the side a new lease of life.
He said: ‘Real Madrid need big names and they have lined up Courtois, they want Hazard.
‘Those are the kind of names they want for next season. It doesn’t mean they will get them, but that’s the shopping list they have.
‘It’s becoming clearer in the minds of the directors of Real Madrid they need another striker, that (Karim) Benzema has to be sold. He doesn’t even have the backing of the fans.’
Balague said the club intended to keep up with tradition of bringing in a marquee-signing every couple of years and that the current interest was not just in reaction to Barcelona’s activity in the market.
He added: ‘Real Madrid will always do their plan of getting a Galactico every year or couple of years and they realise their front men are getting older, it’s more difficult for them to score.
‘There will be players coming in. Not so much reacting to Barcelona, just keeping up with everybody else.’
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