5 potential new ‘Galactico’ signings at Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo’s new Real Madrid contract, which runs until 2021, has gone against the grain.

At a club where success and image are important in almost equal measure, it is hard for any player to maintain such a grasp at the highest level as they reach the swan song of their career. But the Portuguese superstar, who will be 36 by the time his new deal runs out, is a completely different beast.

Since his arrival from Manchester United in 2009, Ronaldo has rewritten the history of the world’s biggest soccer club in an individual sense. In around half the games it took previous incumbent Raul, the 31-year-old has become the club’s all time top goalscorer with 374 goals. It is for that reason that, despite his age, he was avoided the fate of being tossed aside.

But even Ronaldo is showing signs of slowing down, although he would say he is evolving. Having scored over 50 goals in six of his seven campaigns with Los Blancos, his records are what he will be remembered for, but he isn’t impacting games in the way he used to.

For anyone else, that would probably signal the end at the Santiago Bernabeu. Yet, Real have a system which works, reacting early to Ronaldo’s relative decline by signing Gareth Bale in 2013. The Welshman has grown into a similar role to Ronaldo’s, but before either of them, Real Madrid were famous for signing world-class stars.

With no major arrivals other than Alvaro Morata last summer, the club will almost certainly go big in the market at the end of this season. Here are five possible options they could look at.