Real Madrid are edging closer to the sale of this out of favour star to one of Europe’s giants, the ace has been deemed surplus to requirements by Zinedine Zidane.
According to Spanish television channel El Chiringuito, Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz is close to agreeing a move to Monaco, Chiringuito revealed last month that the ace agreed personal terms with the Ligue 1 giants.
According to Spanish outlet AS, Mariano has finally come to terms with the fact that he won’t be a part of Zinedine Zidane’s plans for the future, it’s disappointing to see that the Spanish-Dominican is being shown the exit door just one year after returning to Madrid.
AS also report that Los Blancos value the star at €20m. It was clear that the forward was being cast aside by Zidane as he barely featured during pre-season.
Mariano made just 19 appearances across all competitions last season – most of which coming off the bench.
The 25-year-old scored only four goals last term.
A move to Monaco could be ideal for the ace as he looks to get his career back on track, the forward was a huge success during his time with Lyon.
Mariano scored 21 goals in the in the 2017/2018 season. The star’s impressive form led to Madrid re-signing the ace, but he was limited to just 13 league appearances last season.
According to BBC Sport, Florentino Perez’s side parted with €22m to secure the ace’s return from Lyon last summer.
If Monaco can manage to tap into the version of Mariano that was prolific during his previous spell in France – the Ligue 1 giants will have a quality player on their hands.
Mariano is just 25 years old – the ace has plenty of time to develop himself into a top player and Monaco will give him the platform to do just that.
It will be interesting to see whether or not Zidane reinvests proceeds from the forward’s sale into another signing, the Frenchman has already completed a massive overhaul of Madrid’s squad.