Real Madrid have three alternatives if ‘unbelievable’ Neymar offer fails

Florentino Perez might yet bring in a Ronaldo replacement this summer

Real Madrid, you might have heard, sold Cristiano Ronaldo this summer. Although many expected them to replace him with (at least) one of Kylian Mbappe or Neymar, the European champions were quick to kill off any such speculation last month with the release of a couple of official statements. Although they have managed to get Thibaut Courtois through the Bernabeu doors this summer, it seemed the chances of Real adding any extra firepower to their ranks appeared to be looking increasingly slim. Until this week, that is... Real kicked off their post-Ronaldo (and post-Zidane) era with a 4-2 defeat to city rivals Atletico Madrid in the European Super Cup on Wednesday night. Although the result didn't exactly suggest Real were crying out for attacking reinforcements, it has prompted a couple of Spanish media outlets to report Florentino Perez might yet spend big in an attempt to fill the void left by Ronaldo. SPORT are the latest to do so, breathing new life into the rumours that Neymar might yet be Bernabeu-bound. They claim Perez is 'desperate' to replace the club's former number seven - so desperate, in fact, that he's now willing to make an 'unbelievable' offer of €300m for Paris Saint-Germain's Brazilian. However, the report adds that such a bid will only be tabled if PSG are hit with punishments after the conclusion of UEFA investigations into their finances. If a move for Neymar isn't viable, the same report claims three other more realistic alternatives have also been identified. Mauro Icardi, Inter Milan's Argentine striker, is said to be an option, as is Valencia's Rodrigo and Red Bull Leipzig's German international Timo Werner. Watch this space. It might yet be a busy end to the transfer window for Real.