Mariano still refusing to leave Real Madrid -report

Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz is refusing to leave the club this summer and won’t even consider the possibility of signing away from Real Madrid, according to a report published on MARCA.

Los Blancos would like to get rid of his contract, something they also tried to do a year ago. However, Mariano simply doesn’t want to sign for any other club, so he will stay in the Spanish capital for another year knowing that it’s extremely unlikely that other teams match his current salary.

In this context, Madrid are trying to find a loan deal for Luka Jovic. The attacker hasn’t been particularly impressive in Madrid’s two pre-season games —although he was better against Milan— and Los Blancos don’t believe it will be good for him to spend another season behind Karim Benzema in the rotation.

Milan appeared to be a potential destination for Jovic but that possibility disappeared when the Italian side signed Olivier Giroud, so it looks like Jovic could also stay in Madrid this season.

If that happens, the Serbian attacker and Mariano will compete for the spot as backup strikers behind Benzema, although the final rotation could very well change if Los Blancos receive a call from Paris Saint-Germain allowing them to negotiate for Kylian Mbappe’s transfer.