There are some people at Real Madrid, within the club, some really important people, who believe losing Luka Modric on a free transfer last summer was a mistake. A really big problem in terms of leadership.
Vincent Kompany was at Tegernsee [last summer], he drove out there with Christoph Freund, and said: 'Uli, we need Xavi Simons'. I had put an apple pie on the table for the meeting and replied: 'Vincent, you can have another piece of the apple pie, but you're not getting Xavi. We want you to play the young players'.
With Jean-Philippe Mateta having already told Crystal Palace that he wants to leave and the club listening to offers for the France forward, this feels like a move waiting to happen. The 28-year-old only has 18 months left on his present deal despite signing a contract extension with the Eagles just over 12 months ago. Italian giants Juventus and Premier League Aston Villa are believed to be leading the chase for Mateta, who Palace value at around 40m.