Reports from Spain reveal that Spanish heavyweights, Real Madrid, are willing to buy Lyon striker, Mariano.
Spanish outlet, AS, reports that Real Madrid are willing to bring back Mariano, who they sold to Lyon for a fee of about €8 million last summer.
The Dominican national could not break into Zinedine Zidane’s first XI last year, as he could only manage 302 minutes of football after graduating from Real Madrid Castilla. The 25-year-old was below Karim Benzema and Alvaro Morata in the pecking order, however, things might be different with the departure of Zidane.
It is reported that new Real Madrid manager, Julen Lopetegui, is adamant to reunite the striker with the club, with the striker claiming the return as ‘incredible’ back in March.
Real Madrid are already suffering from the lack of offensive options with the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. The Los Blancos have been linked with various striking options over this transfer window, but none of the move seems to be realistic.
Mariano has bagged 21 goals along with seven assists across all competitions with Lyon, and has formed a brilliant attacking trident with Nabil Fekir and Memphis Depay.
Real Madrid usually add a buy-back clause in the deals while selling upcoming talents which can be seen in the deals of Dani Carvajal, Casemiro and Lucas Vazquez to name a few.
Nevertheless, Lyon confirmed that the Spanish giants could not put a buy-back clause in Mariano’s contract due to the Ligue 1 rules. However, Real Madrid have put other stipulations that will give them an upper hand if they wish to re-sign the Lyon striker.
The 13-time European winners added a clause that helped them retain 40% of the player’s rights, which means that they would receive cash incase of a resale of the 25-year-old.
Moreover, Real are also entitled to a discount of 40% from the asking fee by Lyon, if they are willing to re-purchase Mariano. Apart from that, Madrid will also have the advantage of first refusal, which means that they would automatically be given preference if their bid is matched by another club.
It will be interesting to see if Lopetegui chooses to pursuit the Spanish-born Dominican, as he already has Karim Benzema and Borja Mayoral as the striking options at the Spanish capital.
