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Real Madrid continued their title defence with an impressive and relatively comfortable 2-0 win over Celta Vigo at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano. The Blancos have thoroughly put their vein run of form earlier on in the season behind them and look prepared to fight cross-town rivals and LaLiga Santander leaders Atletico Madrid to the end.
LaLiga's second-placed side are set to travel to Osasuna at the weekend, and here, we take a look at some of the latest Real Madrid news ahead of the game.
Stalemate over Sergio Ramos contract
Real Madrid and Sergio Ramos' contract talks have hit a stumbling block and are still yet to see any progress, as per reports in Spain. The iconic Blancos skipper is out of contract come summer and is free to speak to other clubs this month but hopes to extend his stay at the capital club.
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Ramos, who turns 35 in a couple of months, is keen on a two-year extension on his current deal, but Real Madrid are not willing to offer him this deal. Furthermore, the club expect him to take a 'substantial' paycut to agree new terms due to the ongoing financial crisis, but Ramos wants to continue drawing the same salary he's currently on.
With both wages as well as contract length being disagreed upon at the moment, it remains to be seen if the Spaniard will prolong his stay at Real Madrid. Rene Ramos, his brother and agent, has hit out at the club by retweeting a tweet that said;
"Someone will have to explain how and why we have reached this point, allowing your captain, a Madrid legend, to appear in absurd lineups of players who can from today freely sign with another club."
Shortlist drawn up for Ramos' replacements
Building on the contract stalemate between the clubs, another report in Spain has suggested that Real Madrid have drawn up a list of six potential replacements for Sergio Ramos should he depart from the club. The names on this list are Villarreal's Pau Torres, Sevilla's Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos, Manchester City's Eric Garcia, Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes, and RB Leipzig's Dayot Upamecano.
While they have been linked to many names in this list previously including Upamecano and Kounde, the speculation regarding a move for Torres has heated up over the last 48 hours. COPE now suggest that Real Madrid see him as a replacement for Ramos and they could activate his release clause in the summer should their captain leave the club.
Juventus, PSG, and Manchester City are some of the potential destination for Ramos if he does indeed fail to agree a new deal in Madrid.
Real Madrid complete David Alaba signing
Football insider Jan Aage Fjortoft has claimed that David Alaba to Real Madrid is a 'done deal' and that he will join the club come summer on a free transfer, beating out the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Juventus, and others for his signature.
The Bayern Munich superstar has long been linked with a move to both Barcelona and Real Madrid, and has opted against signing a new deal at the Allianz Arena for this very reason. However, given Barcelona's financial woes at the moment, a move to the Nou Camp has proven to be a difficult one due to Alaba's high wage demands.
