Real Madrid could look to Thiago if Kovacic is determined to leave Transfer Market Lopetegui has long been a fan

Julen Lopetegui's early start to life at Real Madrid has allowed him to begin his work preparing the team for the 2018/19 season and Los Blancos could look to sign Thiago Alcantara if Mateo Kovacic is determined to leave.

The Croatian midfielder has been unhappy with his minutes over the course of the 2017/18 season and it's been mooted that he could force his way out of the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in order to be a guaranteed starter elsewhere.

Real Madrid are not at all interested in losing the former Inter midfielder, although they are well aware of how good a relationship the Spanish coach has with Thiago.

The Bayern Munich playmaker had been an almost ever-present for La Roja during Lopetegui's time in charge and his performances were generally of a high standard.

Los Blancos have always admired the player, but any transfer has always been seen as impossible given his links with Barcelona.

As the Bavarian giants have looked to reshuffle their squad under new coach Niko Kovac, the Spanish midfielder has been considered as dispensable in recent months.

A fee of around 70 million euros would be seen as acceptable by the German champions, yet at the present moment Real Madrid feel as though their midfield is adequately stocked.

According to COPE, Kovacic's representatives have asked the European champions to consider all offers this summer, with a number of clubs interested.

Luka Modric and Toni Kroos will not be displaced as regular starters in Madrid any time soon, but Kovacic is well within his rights to feel that he has ably deputised for the pair when asked.

Florentino Perez considered the deal which brought him to the Spanish capital a success, mainly because of the rather low fee.

It's considered that the 24-year-old has all the tools to develop into a world class midfielder in the coming seasons, but he must be patient and wait for his chance.

The issue would come if his camp really push for an exit this summer, as the club wouldn't want to keep hold of an unhappy player, and Thiago is seen as the perfect option to replace him.

Barcelona are likely to be interested in re-signing the Spanish international too, a situation which would benefit Bayern Munich in financial terms.

Despite their rivalry on the pitch, behind the scenes relations between Los Blancos and the Bundesliga giants are generally positive.

A deal to take James Rodriguez to the Allianz Arena on loan was completed fairly amicably in the summer of 2017 and it isn't thought that negotiations between the two clubs would be a problem.

Perez had previously considered signing Thiago when he left the Camp Nou, as his 18m euros buy-out clause was seen as attractive, although the president decided he didn't want to kick-start a conflict with the Catalan side.

Lopetegui considered Thiago to be his perfect alternative to Sergio Busquets with the national team, and he could replicate this in Madrid with Casemiro, depending on how events unfold this summer.