Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Casemiro: Real Madrid players are already 'best in the world'

Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro says that great players like Kylian Mbappe and Neymar would of course be welcome at the Bernabeu, while maintaining that the 2016 and 2017 Champions League winners already have the best squad around.

Marca reported on Tuesday that Madrid had agreed a €180 million deal to sign the Monaco wonderkid, with a six-year contract paying Mbappe €6 million net per year.

But AS reckoned that even after a summer which has seen Alvaro Morata, Danilo and James Rodriguez leave the Bernabeu, Madrid would first have to sell before they could pay the world record fee.

Meanwhile, there is continued uncertainty around the future of Barcelona star Neymar, with Casemiro himself having added to the speculation by saying after Sunday's International Champions Cup game against Manchester United that his fellow Brazilian would be welcome at the Bernabeu.

Casemiro told a news conference at UCLA ahead of Wednesday's ICC clash with Manchester City that while Mbappe was clearly a "great player," his team were currently not short of attacking quality, given they already had Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.

"These are things that people outside talk about," he said. "Mbappe is not a Madrid player, and I cannot talk about players who are not at Madrid. We know he is a great player, and the more great players we have the better, but we have the 'BBC' who also do a lot of damage.

"I should talk about our own players, the best in the world. Bale is working very hard, Benzema has incredible quality, we also have Isco, Borja [Mayoral]... they are all great players."

Casemiro said he had not spoken to Neymar to try and convince him to move across La Liga's great divide, while maintaining that he "would be a great player for us."

"I have not spoken with him," he said. "We know Neymar is a great player, you cannot argue about that. But we know it is very difficult to leave Barca, and I should not talk about other club's players. He would be a great player for us, but Neymar plays for Barcelona."

Recent days have also seen Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane confirm that Ronaldo will remain at Madrid, with his anger at being called to answer a €14.7 million tax fraud apparently having cooled, although he is not due back with his Los Blancos teammates until after he appears in court in Spain on July 31.

"The best place for Cristiano Ronaldo is here, as the best player in the world should be here," Casemiro said. "We want him with us, as he is an important player for us. We are waiting for him with arms open."

Madrid got their first run-out in Sunday's 1-1 draw with United in Santa Clara, California, with the Premier League taking the honours 2-1 on penalties, and now face a City side who have been busy making expensive additions themselves this summer.

"We know all games for Real Madrid are very important, but the most important remains the Super Cups," Casemiro said, referring to the UEFA Super Cup against Man United on Aug. 8 and the two-legged Spanish Supercopa against Barcelona to follow.

"It is all about preparation, and the objective remains the same. Today we have a physical and technical session. We want to get our rhythm up as soon as possible, that is important for us."

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