5 players who are certain to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona in the future
Real Madrid and Barcelona are two of the most storied football clubs in the world and most footballers would grow up dreaming about playing for them. That's why when the La Liga giants come knocking, the call is hard to resist for most players.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have been viewed as dream destinations for football players. We have seen some of the best performing players in the world join either Real Madrid or Barcelona over the past couple of decades. But the sheen has come off a bit in recent times.
That perhaps has a lot to do with the terrible mismanagement at Barcelona over the past several years and the lazy recruitment policies adopted by Real Madrid. However, being two of the most popular clubs in the world, Real Madrid and Barcelona will continue to lure some of the biggest stars in the world.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five players who are certain to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona in the future.
5 players who are certain to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona in the future
#5 Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
Lautaro Martinez is one of the most promising young strikers in Europe at the moment. The Argentine international has struck up a wonderful partnership with Romelu Lukaku at Inter Milan and the duo's contributions have been crucial to the Nerrazurri winning the Scudetto this season.
Lautaro Martinez has now admitted that he came really close to joining Barcelona last summer before the move broke down due to financial reasons. He said:
“I was truly very close to joining Barcelona and I even talked it over with Messi. However, the Blaugrana had economic problems at that moment, so I decided to stay at Inter. It proved to be the right decision, especially as we then won the Scudetto. It’s just incredible to win the title at such an important club.”
Although Lautaro Martinez looks well settled at Inter Milan at the moment, he could very well end up joining Barcelona or even Real Madrid in the future. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona are looking for strikers and if their big-money moves don't work out, they'll surely swoop in for Martinez as his quality is proven and will be available for way less.
Real Madrid are now heavily linked with a move for Lautaro Martinez with Zinedine Zidane keen to find a replacement for Karim Benzema.
#4 Matthijs De Ligt (Juventus)
Ever since Matthijs De Ligt broke on to the scene at Ajax, a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona has been forecast. De Ligt was signed by Juventus in 2019 for €75 million but is currently third-choice after Leonardo Bonucci and Georgio Chiellini, though it's widely suggested that Juventus view the Dutchman as one of their future stars.
De Ligt not only proved to be a formidable presence at the back during his time at Ajax but also gave a good account of his incredible leadership qualities, captaining his side as they reached the Champions League semi-final in 2019, beating several European bigwigs like Real Madrid and Ajax on the way.
While De Ligt is likely to stay at Juventus for a considerable amount of time, if he can keep his levels up, he will certainly cop a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona as he is still just 21-years-old.