James Rodriguez to Juventus, Mauro Icardi to Real Madrid and more: LaLiga Transfer Roundup, 7 February 2019

Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid to battle it out for Mauro Icardi

Real Madrid are more than relieved that Karim Benzema has hit top form again. However, with the striker not going to grow any younger, they are on the lookout for top young strikers who can help keep the goals coming at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Now, according to AS (courtesy: Calcio Mercato), Inter Milan's prolific striker Mauro Icardi's future lies in Madrid, away from Milan. Inter Milan are going through a tough time right now with several issues cropping up off-field and Icardi is rumoured to be at the centre of it.

However, it won't be straightforward. The report claims that both Madrid clubs are interested in the Argentine striker. It is further claimed that Barcelona also remains interested in Icardi and will make a move to secure his services as Suarez saunters towards the twilight of his career.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Nishant Jayaram