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Zidane: No Real Madrid signings without departures first

Xinhua, August 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said on Saturday there would be no new arrivals at the club before the end of the month unless players were first sold.

The only new faces in the Real Madrid squad for the current season so far are striker Alvaro Morata, who was bought back following a two-year spell with Juventus, and Marcos Asensio, who will stay with the first team following a successful loan with Espanyol last season.

Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez has been linked with a possible move to the Premier League, but Spanish papers continue to insist he will stay at Madrid.

"If nobody leaves another player can't come, I am certain of that," said Zidane, speaking to the press ahead of Sunday's La Liga opener away to Real Sociedad.

The coach insisted he was "very happy to have this squad," despite the fact Casimiro is the only specialist defensive midfielder in the squad.

Zidane was philosophical in his answer saying, "that's the way the squad is and we are not going to worry about it. We did have Marcos Llorente, who can also play in that role, but he has gone (on loan to Alaves) because he wanted to play and it is good for him. We are going to continue with who we have and there are other players who can play in the same position as Casimiro."

Saturday saw the Real Madrid website announce that Karim Benzema is suffering from "sacroilitis," which is an inflammation of the area where the back and pelvis connect and have not put a date on the French striker's return to action.

"I have spoken to him and I don't want him to be in and out of the side; we are going to get him 100 percent fit first," commented Zidane, explained the striker had been suffering from the problem for 2 or 3 weeks and that, "the doctors have explained to be that they have to talk seriously about it."

Real Madrid kick off the season with just one league title in the last 8 years and the coach understands the need to change that.

"This league is very important, it is our day to day and after that comes the Cup and the Champions League... The League is our main objective, because it is the competition in which you have to be the most consistent," he concluded. Endit