by Ryan D. Jaeger
For a while
Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid was eager to sign Brazilian right back Maicon who played for current champions Inter Milan last season, but the club has since lost interest in the player due to his high wage demands.
According to reports, Real Madrid balked at the £7-million pound a year salary Maicon is seeking, and instead turned its attention to another top Brazilian player in the form of Thiago Silva, who played center back for A.C. Milan last season.
If the rumours are true, fans of Los Blancos could see Silva start for the top-rated side in La Liga this season. Real Madrid seems prepared to pay big bucks for Silva, and even trade Dutch midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart as part of the deal.
It's been no secret that Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has always intended to add a top-notch defender to the team this season. Whether news of Real Madrid's desire for Silva will cause Maicon to drop his price will remain to be seen.
But Real Madrid's acquisition trail did not begin with Maicon and Silva, as the club has already finalised a contract with top German midfielder Sami Khedira, who played for VfB Stuttgart in Germany's premier Bundesliga division last season.
Before the ink on his contract was dry, Khedira flew out to Los Angeles together with Alvaro Arbeloa, Rafael van der Vaart, Sergio Canales and Raul Albiol where he announced his aim to help Real beat Barcelona in La Liga this season.
Khedira played an important role in helping Germany reach the 2010 World Cup semi-finals in South Africa. He boasts 12 caps and scored his first international goal in South Africa last month in the third-place playoff win against Uruguay.
It's no secret that Real Madrid and Barcelona share a long and hard rivalry and as Barca are the current La Liga champions, Real Madrid will no doubt do whatever it takes to stop the L'equip blaugrana from winning La Liga again this year.
