Real Madrid are not planning to make any January signings unless players leave first. Los Blancos have 25 men on their first-team wage bill, plus Rodrygo Goes (who is officially a member of the Castilla squad), and will only dip into the mid-season transfer market if they can offload individuals who are not getting regular football, such as Mariano Díaz, Brahim Díaz and Isco.

Pérez focus solely on taking Mbappé to Bernabéu

Having spent 300 million euros last summer, the feeling at Madrid is that, before bringing in new faces, the priority should be to give more minutes to figures such as Luka Jovic, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo. However, there are coaches within the club who believe the squad should be strengthened in January by bringing in the likes of Christian Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes or Donny van de Beek.

This opinion is not shared by Madrid president Florentino Pérez, though; his sights are set solely on Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappé. Barring an unlikely scenario in which Paul Pogba becomes available to buy from Manchester United (such a purchase would only be made to keep head coach Zinedine Zidane happy), Pérez doesn't want to waste time and money in January and is now focusing all his transfer efforts on laying the groundwork to lure Mbappé to the Santiago Bernabéu next summer.

Eriksen Inter

Midfielder

Denmark

Isco open to loan move with Euro 2020 on horizon

While Real Madrid chiefs are not optimistic that Mariano and Brahim will be keen to leave in the winter window, there is a wait-and-see attitude with Isco. With the European Championship coming up, the midfielder is thought to be open to a loan move to the Premier League in a bid to rediscover his best form, and Madrid are well aware that Unai Emery and Pep Guardiola, the managers of Arsenal and Manchester City, respectively, are firm admirers.

Isco's chief short-term goal is to go to Euro 2020, but having been told by Spain boss Robert Moreno that he must be playing week in, week out for his club if he is to win a place in the squad, that condition seems likelier to be met in England than in LaLiga.