Real Madrid might have already signed Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Lassana Diarra this winter, but it doesn’t look as though the defending La Liga champions will be stopping there.
Reports in the Spanish press have linked Los Blancos to plenty of players around the world – and most recently to Ashley Young.
The Aston Villa star has been in fine form lately and has apparently caught the eye of Real Madrid, who now want to bring him to the Bernabeu.
However, with a reported price of 32 million euros, Sport.es believes that they will try to use midfielder Rafael Van Der Vaart as part-payment for the player.
The Dutch international only signed in the summer but he has been out of form lately, and rumors have started about his possible exit.
The player himself has admitted lately that he does not know if he will be playing for Real Madrid at the end of the season, but surely even he would not expect an exit this soon.
The idea appears to be similar to methods they tried to use with both Julio Baptista and Robinho, neither of whom ended up as swap deals.
The latter was basically offered to Manchester United on a plate in exchange for Cristiano Ronaldo, but eventually went to Manchester City. And they attempted to include Baptista in plenty of transfers that never went through, and he ended up at Roma.
Certainly the treatment of Van De Vaart does seem strange lately, with the Dutchman getting left on the bench whilst lesser-known players go on ahead of him.
The club is unlikely to want to see him leave, but for a trade they may well be willing.