Saturday, 29th June, 2013
Newly-appointed Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti is fully intent on bolstering his club’s midfield, this time setting his sights on luring Sevilla’s Geoffrey Kondogbia to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Ancelotti, who arrived in Madrid earlier in the week, has made clear his intentions to seek a midfield man for the club, as he thinks that part of the Los Blancos squad has a "deficit".
Sure enough, the Spanish heavyweights have already been linked with a number of notable midfielders in the game, including Manchester United target Thiago Alcantara as well as Corinthians’ midfield maestro Paulinho.
But with Thiago understably wary of moving from Barcelona to Real Madrid because of the intense rivalry between the two clubs, and Paulinho "dreaming" of an England move with Tottenham Hotspur, it is clear that Ancelotti is running out of options.
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Enter Kondogbia, Sevilla’s 20-year-old defensive lynchpin in the middle of the pitch. The statistics will show how important he is to Los Nervionenses, with him playing in all but seven of the club’s 38 league games last season.
Kondogbia’s function exceeds to more than just frustrating the opposition, as he proves capable of giving his team a threat in attack as well, with the 20-year-old notching two goals and six assists for both club and country during the 2012/13 campaign.
With such a young age packing that potential, it is believed that Real Madrid were only too happy to make a bid, but Sevilla supremo Jose Maria del Nido made sure the offer went nowhere.
"We have rejected an offer a week ago for Kondogbia, [the bid was] three times the cost of the player when he came to Sevilla", Del Nido told Spanish daily AS.
"Our idea, in principle, is that the player will continue to grow with us as has done last season", the Sevilla president added.
Kondogbia, who is also thought to be in the crosshairs of Serie A stalwarts Inter Milan, has a contract that will see him locked down at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan until 2017.
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