Real Madrid: Are these two surprising names reportedly on Zinedine Zidane’s radar good fits?

Zinedine Zidane is always looking for Real Madrid to sign the best young players, and he reportedly has a couple of surprising names on his list.

Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, and Eduardo Camavinga seem to be the top three players on Real Madrid‘s wishlist. The priority for Los Blancos right now is to sign top young players, and that is even reflected by the players linked to Real at the center back position, such as Sevilla’s Jules Kounde and Monaco’s Benoit Badiashile.

Most of the young players Los Blancos are after are rated among the world’s best already, such as Haaland and Mbappe. But Zinedine Zidane seems to have a few “sleepers” on his list.

According to a report from El Confidencial’s Fermin de la Calle, Zidane has his eye on Kylian Mbappe and Houssem Aouar, but that’s not surprising. They are two players frequently linked to Real and are highly-rated.

But the surprise names mentioned in the report are Sassuolo’s Jeremie Boga and Nice’s Amine Gouiri. These are not players linked to Real Madrid frequently, and, in fact, this report is the first time I have seen Gouiri or Boga mentioned as targets for Los Merengues.

Boga is an exciting attacking player who starts for one of Europe’s most exciting teams in Sassuolo. He is an exciting dribbler who is averaging 3.8 dribbles completed per game, according to WhoScored.com. Last season, he had the best year of his career with 11 goals, nearly four dribbles completed, and a key pass per game in Serie A.

Would Jeremie Boga and Amine Gouiri be good enough for Real Madrid?

But is Boga good enough for Real Madrid? He is still young at 23 and had a great goal-scoring record as a winger in 2019-2020. The problem is that Boga is a little bit streaky, and he’s not a sure-fire upgrade on Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes as backups to Eden Hazard at left winger.

Gouiri, a former Lyon youth player, is off to a great start this season. He already has four goals and three assists in Ligue 1 with four goals in five Europa League appearances. So far this season, Gouiri is averaging over 1.5 key passes per game and dribbles per game in Ligue 1, making him one of the league’s most versatile and well-rounded strikers. Gouiri can play a variety of positions.

Between the two of them, Gouiri is the more intriguing possible addition and is currently valued at 15 million euros by Transfermarkt. Gouiri, though, wouldn’t get much playing time at Real Madrid and wouldn’t start. The club already has to work through Luka Jovic and see if they want to keep invested in him, as Erling Haaland may become available in 2022.

Boga and Gouiri are talented players, and the latter has the production and skill-set to pique Zidane’s interest as a No. 9. But looking at the tight financial and roster situation, as well as Real’s huge need for a top-scoring wide forward, these two players may not be the right fits.