Former Brazil star Rivaldo believes Paul Pogba and Christian Eriksen would fit in well at Real Madrid, but says the Spanish giants do not need them.
The Manchester United and Tottenham midfielders have been linked with Madrid several times in recent years.
The France international’s agent, Mino Raiola, confirmed he is in the process of negotiating a move away from Old Trafford this summer, with Madrid and Juventus the top candidates to sign him.
Eriksen, on the other hand, has a year left on his contract with Tottenham and Los Blancos are said to want him as James Rodriguez nears the Santiago Bernabeu exit. However, Juventus and Atletico Madrid have also been named as possible destinations for the Denmark international.
As they look to recover from a disastrous 2018-19 campaign, Zinedine Zidane’s team have had an uninspiring pre-season, in which they lost 3-1 Bayern Munich, 7-3 to Atletico Madrid and 1-0 to Tottenham.
Despite the worrying results, ex-Barcelona striker Rivaldo is confident their squad is strong enough to succeed next season without spending big on Pogba or Eriksen.
“The press are saying that Madrid need to reinforce their midfield, with Christian Eriksen and Paul Pogba among the rumoured targets. Both are excellent players and would fit well at the Bernabeu,” the 2002 World Cup winner said in a column for Betfair.
“In spite of their bad pre-season, I'm not sure that Madrid need reinforcements.
“Critics of Madrid's midfield should not forget that Casemiro is only returning to the team now after injury, so they have been playing without their starting defensive midfielder and one of the most important players.
“Madrid will improve with Casemiro back in the squad, although his absence doesn't explain their awful pre-season.”
Madrid have already spent big in the close-season, bringing in five new players and allowing five to leave.
After signing Eden Hazard in a €100 million (£88m/$112m) deal from Chelsea, the capital club bought Luka Jovic from Eintracht Frankfurt, centre-back Eder Militao from Porto, left-back Ferland Mendy from Lyon and Rodrygo from Santos.
Meanwhile, Mateo Kovacic made his move to Chelsea permanent, Marco Llorente was sold to Atletico Madrid, Theo Hernandez joined AC Milan and Raul de Tomas went to Benfica after spending last term on loan at Real Vallecano.
The Spanish side are also working on offloading Gareth Bale as he does not fit into Zidane’s plans and has been the subject of a lucrative offer from China.