“I’m not one to pretend to extol the life of Manuel Preciado, who has broken into a thousand pieces today. But as a colleague and man of football I wish to send in this very hard times my humble message to all his family, the people of Sporting, Racing, Levante and Villareal, A club that he would have rescued from the Second Division, And to all the teams where he has left his mark. Manolo was always a worthy opponent, who I got to know well when he came to visit, last March at the Ciudad Real Madrid in Valdebebas. He had everything that I like in people and sportsmen: character, openness and courage to fight against the blows, which were cruelly hard on him. A great figure of football has left and above all a very special person. All my encouragement and support for those who have a special place for him in their heart. My memory of him will be permanent.”

Auditioning for the role of defensive midfielder is Lucas Biglia, currently in Belgium with Anderlecht.

The player has a contract with the Belgian champs until 2015, but has stated that he has a deal in place with his club that allows him to leave if the price is right, according to the Daily Mirror.

Biglia claims that both Arsenal and Real Madrid are interested in him, but will either team actually make a big for him? With Fernando Gago and Sami Khedira already at Madrid, Biglia just isn't enough of an improvement to justify his pursuit.

Madrid better look elsewhere for their defensive midfield enforcer.

It seems the race to sign Lucas Moura is heating up. Just over a week since it was revealed that Chelsea had a £32.4 million bid rejected for Lucas' services, Lucas has told TV Globo (via Goal.com) that he and his father had informal talks with Real Madrid.

Lucas is very much the "Brazilian flavor of the summer" for the 2011-12 summer transfer window, and it is expected that whenever he does agree to leave Brazil, his transfer fee will be astronomical.

Real Madrid have a packed offense, but Lucas could be one of the few players which could make it even better, especially if he can train to take up Angel di Maria's position on the right wing.

Quality right-backs are never in regular supply in world football, making Gregory van der Wiel a top transfer priority for a number of clubs, including Real Madrid.

Luckily for Real Madrid, van der Wiel has effectively told the club to come and get him, indicating the van der Wiel would be very happy to move and play for the capital club.

With only one more year left on his contract, van der Wiel will almost surely not be with Ajax by the end of this summer. He has already rejected Roma and had a move to Valencia fall through, but that may have been to his benefit as it seems he will move to either Madrid or Chelsea.

Madrid would be wise to make van der Wiel a top priority for themselves too, as he would cut the club's reliance on Alvaro Arbeloa at right-back and allow Sergio Ramos to move centrally on a permanent basis.

Younes Belhanda has, understandably, been linked with a number of clubs this summer, including Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City.

Unfortunately, one club he hasn't been linked with is Real Madrid. And while it's completely understandable that Madrid wouldn't want to splash the cash on a player after one good season, Belhanda has the potential to be exactly what Madrid needs.

He's young, he's pacy, he's tricky, and he plays on the right. If brought in this summer, he could potentially start out as a bench player, and slowly come into the team depending on Angel di Maria's performances.

A year ago, or even a couple of months ago, mentioning a transfer for Yaya Toure would've been nothing short of fantasy football. The Ivorian has been a key player for Manchester City for as long as he's been with the club, and is still seen as an essential piece of the club's future.

But Toure himself has taken steps to ensure that there is heavy interest in him this summer. In mid-May, Toure advisers announced that he was looking for a new challenge elsewhere.

Now, the Guardian is linking him with a move to Real Madrid, and as I've said time and again, this is exactly the move needed to take Real Madrid to the top of world football.

With Tottenham's failure to qualify for the Champions League, it is expected that Modric will be allowed to leave Spurs if the club receives a substantial bid for his services.

Metro has linked him and Ramires to Real Madrid, and while I can't see Chelsea letting Ramires leave for Madrid, Modric is a different story. If Madrid really want him, I'd say there's an 80-percent chance of them getting him.

Do they need him though? I don't think so. He's not a right-back, a centre-back, a defensive midfielder, or a right-winger, and Madrid already has Nuri Sahin and Xabi Alonso as creative holding midfielders.

It's realistic, but not very desirable.

If Yaya Toure doesn't move to Madrid, I would really like to see the Merengues sign Yann M'Vila up.

He's actually more of what Madrid needs than Toure, as he plays a much more defensive game than the Ivorian. His passing and tackling is top notch, and really give Madrid the destroyer they've been so badly missing over the last couple of years in midfield.

He's been linked with Madrid for over a year now, but it's really all about someone at Madrid coming out and saying they want him now.

Robin van Persie has elected to delay the decision on his future until after the Euros, and for Arsenal, that's not good news.

It makes sense for RVP; if he does well, he'll probably raise interest from Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City, the quartet of clubs who currently look most likely to sign him.

If he does poorly, Arsenal will happily re-sign him without a second thought.

Real Madrid really doesn't need another striker, but if Jose Mourinho does eventually give into Chelsea's pressure to sell Gonzalo Higuain, he could spend the funds generated on RVP, who would arguably be an improvement to the Argentinian.

It's all fantasy football really, and such a scenario would probably give Mourinho an unneeded headache.

But it could happen.