Who will join Mourinho at the Bernabeu this summer?

Next season promises to be an exciting one in Spain as Real Madrid try and wrestle the La Liga crown from the grasp of rivals Barcelona.

The arrival of Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid has made an already tasty title race even tastier.

Mourinho

The ‘Special One’ is a real winner and unlike past coaches will see the La Liga title as just as important as the Champions League.

He will want to overturn his former employers Barca’s dominance of the Spanish league that’s for sure.

Mourinho has already completed his first bit of business as Real Madrid boss signing Angel Di Maria from Benfica for a fee in the region of £20million.

The young winger is currently away on international duty with Argentina at the World Cup.

He impressed immensely last season for the Portuguese champions and had been linked with a number of big clubs. He has chosen to move to the Spanish capital. Di Maria is certainly a player who is capable of exciting the Bernabeu faithful.

Potential Signings

Mourinho will want to make the team his own and that will mean new players arriving. Here are some of the players who have been touted as possible Real Madrid signings:

Maicon (Inter)

Brazil’s first choice right-back ahead of Daniel Alves, he is rated as one of the best in his position. He is a typical Brazilian full-back that likes to get forward. Although he has improved the defensive side of his game in recent years and his pace and stamina allows him to make up ground on opponents if they do get beat him.

Transfer rumours coming out of Italy suggest that he could soon be moving on and the player himself had stated he wanted a move to Madrid before going back on that statement and reassuring Inter fans that he is staying unless the president wants him to sell him.

Jean Makoun (Lyon)

The Cameroon midfielder has been linked with a number of major clubs including Real Madrid. He is the sort of player that Mourinho always has in his side. He is a hardworking shield in front of the defenders.

He is highly rated and could be a possible replacement for Mahamadou Diarra, who is being linked with a move to Manchester United. Makoun is believed to be unhappy at the French giants and may be looking for a move elsewhere this summer.

Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio)

The Lazio left-back is also regarded by some as the best in his position. He has most recently been linked with a move to Manchester City. However Real are believed to also be monitoring his progress. Left-back is considered the weak point of the Madrid side, with Brazilian Marcelo regarded as better going forward than defending and Alvaro Arbeloa is more of a right-back.

Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)

The Liverpool and England captain has been heavily linked with a move away from crisis-club Liverpool this summer. Last season was probably his worse in a Liverpool shirt for years. He looks as though he is fed up with failure.

Mourinho is believed to be a big admirer of the midfielder and a £30million fee has already been mooted. Maybe at 30 Gerrard will be thinking this summer will be the last chance he will get to move to a club where he is going to win a league title. I can see Gerrard finally leaving his beloved Liverpool this summer.

Unlikely

There has been lots of high-profile players linked with a move to Real this summer. However some of them are very unlikely. The Chelsea trio of Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba and Ashley Cole don’t seem unhappy at the Chelsea and I can’t see those players arriving at the Bernabeu anytime soon.

Inter striker Diego Milito has also been linked with a move to Real. However his agent Fernando Hidalgo has recently revealed that he is in talks for his client to sign an extension to his Inter contract. Madrid already have numerous attacking options and don’t seem to need the Argentinian.

Un-Galactico

Jose Mourinho has never been a manager to sign players on their reputations. He signs players that fit his system of play. He has never been one for signing the likes of so called ‘Galactico’s’. He may spend big but he always spends big on the right sort of player.

I would be surprised if any big names arrive at the Bernabeu this summer. Good players will arrive at the Bernabeu but I doubt any of them will be regarded as ‘World Stars’. Mourinho main aim at Madrid is to win trophies not sell shirts.

Anyway too many big name players will take the attention off Mourinho and he wouldn’t do that to himself. He already has Ronaldo and Kaka to compete with. I’m sure he won’t want to share the limelight with anymore big name stars.