Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has offered his view on the transfer links between Manchester City star Raheem Sterling and Real Madrid.
The Blues are currently in the midst of a two-legged Champions League last 16 tie with the Spanish giants.
Sterling discussed his love of Real ahead of the clash at the Bernabeu in an interview with AS, something which sent already present rumours into overdrive.
Balague also let his thoughts be known ahead of City's clash at Real when he revealed his opinion on BBC Radio 5 Live's pre-match coverage.
Asked if Real want Sterling, Balague told the BBC : "Yes, of course. But in that kind of way that they want the best players in the world.
"They will flirt with Sterling and you know what, it's been the other way. Real Madrid weren't the ones talking about Sterling.
"It was him talking about what a good club Real Madrid is. It reminded me of an interview that Gareth Bale gave to me about Real Madrid 12 months before he signed for them. Sterling sounded the same.
"Everyone knows that if you want to go to Real Madrid, you have to say that you love the club. It's the condition that everyone has to go through.
"Sterling has done it. He may never mention Real Madrid again, but he's done it."
But Balague did add that it's Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain who Real crave the most.
He added: "Real Madrid don't have the money that they used to apart from for Kylian Mbappe. That's where all the money is going to go. They will convince Mbappe, I'm sure of that. He will go to Real Madrid, it's just a matter of when."
