Managing Madrid

Hey all, so this is the first in a series of transfer-season stories: each week (at least once, depending on the pace of the rumors) we'll round up the top 10 Real Madrid related transfer rumors. We'll do our best to cite our sources, even though some of them might look like this:

"Real Madrid to make huge splash for Ibrahimovic! 60 Million Euros and up!" --Some dude I met in a bar last night. 


So, without further adieu, here are this weeks Top 10 Real Madrid Transfer Rumors:

Mourinho and his stalker, Villas-Boas. via Marca.com

1. Kun Agüero Close to Signing for Juve. Marca.com attributes this shocking piece of information to "Italian sources." If true, this is too bad for Madrid--I like the way the young Argentine plays. 
2. Neymar "only wants to play in Madrid," according to Dani Alves. While this might sound like good news, Dani Alves is a notorious liar, so take this at face value. 
3. Neymar "won't come to Europe for at least another year," according to his agent. This seems like a trick to try to drive up his asking price. I don't buy it for one second.
4. Neymar "wants to play the Club World Cup for Santos," according to various sources. I buy this, but it might mean risking injury and driving up his price if he has a good competition. 
5. Real Madrid "ahead" in the race for Coulibaly, a young phenom. Who the hell knows if this is true--I don't even know what "ahead" means in this case.
6. My buddy told me that Madrid is thinking about selling Benzema. It sounds like BS to me. 
7. BUT, Madrid "is negotiating for Kaká," according to various sources, and Marca is reporting that both AC Milan and Inter are interested in buying the Brazilian midfielder's contract. But for 30 Million, no more. Seems like a big loss for Madrid. 
8. According to Fernando Gago, "Kun Agüero would be a great player for Madrid." I'm glad Gago agrees with me; unfortunately, I still think Gago should go play on some other team. 
9. This isn't a rumor exactly, but more like something I wish: as River Plate went to "la B" in Argentina, it looks like some of their talent might be available on the cheap. Madrid should consider looking into their center midfielder, 19-year-old Argentine Erik Lamela. He looked very good in the matches I saw. 
10. Apparently Chelsea wants to buy every single player Real Madrid wants to buy, according to various sources. In other news, Chelsea's new coach, Manuel Villas-Boas wants to be Mourinho--but not in a cute "he's my idol" kind of way, but more in a "creepy stalker wear his skin like a suit" kind of way. Too far?

We'll be back soon with another installment of "Gabe Lezra's Favorite Random Real Madrid Rumors" soon.