Real Madrid Transfer News Roundup: Club set to battle Liverpool for Portuguese wonderkid, big-money Blancos star nearing Santiago Bernabeu exit, and more — 9th January 2021

Real Madrid are all set to return to LaLiga Santander action as they travel away to Osasuna. The Blancos, currently occupying second place in the league table, will hope to dethrone current leaders and cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid. The Rojiblancos remain the side to beat in LaLiga this year with 38 points from just 15 games, with a two-point lead over Zinedine Zidane's side.

Ahead of their upcoming LaLiga game, here is a glance at some of the latest Real Madrid news.

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Liverpool and Real Madrid locked in battle for Nuno Mendes

The 2021 summer sagas have, so far, seen Real Madrid and Liverpool be heavily involved due to the futures of David Alaba, Sergio Ramos, Kylian Mbappe, and others. The latest player on that list is Sporting CP wonderkid, Nuno Mendes. The Portuguese full-back is viewed by Real Madrid as an ideal replacement for the ageing Marcelo, while Liverpool also remain heavily interested in him.

Nuno Mendes: Liverpool, que já teve uma oferta de 25 milhões de euros recusada, segue como forte interessado, mas agora tem a concorrência do Real Madrid. Sporting não pretende vender o jovem lateral-esquerdo de 18 anos por menos de 40 milhões de euros

— Bruno Andrade (@brunoandrd) January 8, 2021

Portuguese journalist Bruno Andrade claims that Sporting have already rejected Liverpool's opening bid and they will hold out for a fee of £36m for their rising star. Manchester United have also been named as another club monitoring his situation.

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Luka Jovic edging closer to departure

Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic is edging closer to a transfer away from Real Madrid in the near future, as per Spanish outlet MARCA. The Serb has effectively been relegated to being the third-choice centre-forward at the capital club and has scored just one goal in the whole of 2020 across 607 minutes of football.

2 - Luka Jović scored two goals for Serbia 🇷🇸 in the game against Russia 🇷🇺 in the UEFA Nations League, as many as he did in 32 matches for Real Madrid in all competitions. Confidence. pic.twitter.com/3sqPTC4NXM

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 18, 2020

As per reports, Zinedine Zidane will not stand in the way of Jovic's departure and his plans will not be altered should this happen. AC Milan, who have maintained an excellent relationship with Real Madrid, are keen on signing the out-of-favour striker, while his former club Eintracht Frankfurt are also interested in re-signing him.

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Tottenham Hotspur monitoring Real Madrid's Eder Militao

Militao in action for Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho already sanctioned a move for Real Madrid's Gareth Bale in the summer and could be set to raid his former club once again for Brazilian star Eder Militao, as per reports.

The former FC Porto man, purchased by the Spanish champions for a massive fee of £43m back in the summer of 2019, is yet to become a first-team regular at Real Madrid and has found game time hard to come by. Even in the absence of Sergio Ramos or Raphael Varane, it is Nacho who has received the nod more frequently than the 22-year-old.

With Mourinho's Spurs falling short on options in central defence this season, the North London club are monitoring Militao's situation and could make a move for him this January. Militao has made just 23 appearances across all competitions for Real Madrid so far and has played just three games this year, two of which resulted in defeats against Cadiz and Shakhtar Donetsk.

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