It’s not always an easy task to recommend players for Real Madrid. They know what they want in the transfer market, and they tend to get what they want.

What does make a list of possible free transfers easier to compile is the fact they have the power to hijack almost any move that is in the works elsewhere.

It doesn’t matter how close your club is to signing a player, they could always end up joining Real Madrid instead. At this point of the summer, many free agents have either moved to a new club or are very close to doing so. Real Madrid have a special pull, though.

With that in mind, here are five players available on free transfers that could be of use to Los Blancos.

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Previous/current club: Lyon

He’s been linked with everyone at some point over the past five years, but Moussa Dembele is a striker who could provide some very important depth.

We have to assume Real Madrid will buy one more major centre-forward to be ahead of Joselu in the pecking order.

It is hard to tell at this stage whether Dembele would be a big enough player to fill that role, or if Real could operate with two back-up strikers. The idea of being a stop-gap to Kylian Mbappe is also applicable here.

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Previous/current club: Lille

This would very much be a case of acquiring some depth on the wings for Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, but there are much worse ways to do that than with talented 27-year-old Jonathan Bamba.

The Lille winger has been a very solid player for many years, grabbing six goals and seven assists in a pretty uninspiring Lille side last season.

A short-term deal for Bamba could be a pretty smart move for Real Madrid. He may not be what you would call a Galactico, but there is still an opportunity for Los Blancos to sure up that area of the squad without a transfer fee.

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Previous/current club: Manchester United

Wouldn’t it be cathartic for Real Madrid to finally see David De Gea wearing the famous white shirt?

We all know about the fax machine incident back in 2015 which went rogue and kept the Spanish goalkeeper from leaving Manchester United, but the opportunity is back.

Thibaut Courtois is still the number one in the Spanish capital but with just Andriy Lunin behind him, there is space for another goalkeeper and a real rivalry could brew between De Gea and Courtois. He certainly seems set to leave Man Utd after a shocking contractural U-turn from the club.

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Previous/current club: Wolves

This would be a rogue move from Real Madrid but they are in need of depth on the wings and the options are limited. There are two Premier League wingers available that could be of interest. One is Adama Traore and another is Wilfried Zaha.

Traore is a few years younger than Zaha and would not need much time at all to adapt to La Liga after a recent loan spell with Barcelona.

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Previous/current club: Juventus

Run it back. Another way Real can get bolster the flanks is to bring Angel Di Maria back to the club for a year. He is available following the expiry of his one-year deal at Juventus.

Di Maria got 36 goals and 85 assists in 190 games for Real Madrid before he moved on to Manchester United. His experience could be very useful as Real enter the season without Karim Benzema for the first time in a decade.

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On this week’s edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth, Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss Mason Mount’s impending move to Man Utd, Arsenal’s various deals, Liverpool’s pursuit of Dominik Szoboszlai and more!

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