Zinedine Zidane and Florentino Perez are to blame for Real Madrid’s struggles this season – according to none other than superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Los Blancos’ key man is reportedly fuming over the pair’s leadership of the reigning Spanish top flight champions, according to Diario Gol, and has been left less than impressed with Real’s transfer business over the past 12 months.
The likes of Pepe, Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez have been allowed to leave Santiago Bernabeu, with Besiktas, Chelsea and Bayern Munich becoming their new homes.
And Ronaldo, who sat out Real’s shock loss to Espanyol on Tuesday evening, is said to hold the opinion that their replacements – Theo Hernandez, Dani Ceballos and Jesus Vallejo – are not good enough to make Real a stronger force domestically and on the continent.
The club’s transfer dealings are down to club president Perez, and Ronaldo is not exactly smitten with the work that he has carried out on trying to strengthen Real’s senior side this term.
The Portugal captain is also furious with Zidane, who is seen as a collaborator with Perez and who has failed to successfully defend their top tier crown this season.
Real find themselves 14 points off league leaders and bitter rivals Barcelona in the hunt to retain their title, and lie third seven points behind city rivals Atletico too.
Ronaldo is said to be ‘desperate’ for Real to get their incomings right in the summer to make a crack of trying to regain their La Liga trophy, and wants proven players – not kids – to be the bulk of those new arrivals.
Los Blancos are reportedly monitoring the situations of Harry Kane, Robert Lewandowski, Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard ahead of a potential new Galactico era being ushered in in the Spanish capital.
And Ronaldo will hope that plenty of money is spent on the right players otherwise it may be time that the 33-year-old ends his association with his current club.