Zinedine Zidane and Florentino Perez have told reported West Ham United, Everton and Crystal Palace target Mariano Diaz that he has no future at Real Madrid, according to Corriere dello Sport.
Don’t let the events of Saturday fool you.
Mariano might have scored his first La Liga goal since March in a 1-1 draw against Villarreal but, if Karim Benzema had not been laid low with an injury, the £25 million bench-warmer would have once again been watching from the sidelines on the Castellon coast.
Mariano had not started a La Liga game all season until this weekend.
In fact, the last time he was included in Zidane’s starting XI was way back in 2018/19. It took a Benzema injury and a Luka Jovic absence for Real Madrid’s third-choice striker to finally be handed a chance.
Although he took it with both hands, scoring inside three minutes at Villarreal, Mariano’s future still lies away from the Bernabeu.
Corriere dello Sport claim that Zidane and president Perez have both made it clear that he can look for a new club.
West Ham are interested in a loan-to-buy deal, while Everton and Crystal Palace are also potential destinations for the £25 million-rated, £70,000-a-week Dominican international (Sport).
Mariano did score 21 times at Lyon in 2017/18 – the only season in which he has played regular, first-team football, week in, week out.
Clearly, a striker with a thunderbolt shot and the leap of a salmon has plenty of talent. He just needs to find a club where he can show it on a more frequent basis.
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