Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has insisted that he does not want to sign a new striker in January, despite his side’s struggles in front of goal.
Sunday’s dull 0-0 draw with Athletic Club was their second consecutive goalless draw and left Real two points behind rivals Barcelona in the race for the La Liga title.
They have only scored once in their last three matches, but Zidane was adamant (via Marca) that he does not want to sign a new striker in January to compete with Karim Benzema and Luka Jović.
“Absolutely not, I don’t think we need to sign a striker,” he said. “As always, when we play a game like we did and have chances [to score], I’m annoyed for the players.
“For the effort that we put in, we’re annoyed that we didn’t score the chances that we had. If you have chances, you have to score them, and we’ve had lots of the ball in the last three games and very few goals.
“It’s not bad luck or [a lack of] conviction – the important thing is creating chances. We created so many chances… we’re going to continue; it’s going to go in [eventually]. Now it’s not going in, but we can’t let our heads drop. We have to think that it’s been a very good year. We’re ending a bit flat but we’re looking forward to starting 2020.
“I don’t think [the lack of goals] is a problem, but everyone has their own opinion. We’re calm. What we’ve done in the last four or five months was good.”
Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois echoed Zidane’s feelings. He told the media (via AS) that recruiting a new striker is not important, even though Real do miss the goals of Cristiano Ronaldo, who left for Juventus in the summer of 2018.
“I do not think that it is necessary to sign a striker, I see Benzema and Jović doing well. In training they score great goals. Sometimes, in games they do not come off,” he said.
“Cristiano is a guy who scores 40 or 50 goals a year, you obviously miss that, but he has not been here for a year and a half, so you don’t have to think about that.”
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