Real Madrid Transfer News: 4-Man Shortlist Compiled in Latest Rumours

Real Madrid have reportedly compiled a four-man shortlist of transfer targets, three of whom play for rivals Atletico Madrid.

According to Diario Gol (h/t the Mirror), Real president Florentino Perez was "embarrassed" by Los Blancos' 2-1 defeat to Girona and wants to strengthen the side. 

His top target is said to be on-loan Valencia winger Goncalo Guedes, and he is also interested in Atleti trio Antoine Griezmann, Jose Gimenez and Lucas Hernandez, brother of Real star Theo.

The defeat to Girona left Real's La Liga title hopes hanging by a thread as they're now behind rivals Barcelona by eight points. As ESPN's Gabriele Marcotti noted, their chances of making up that deficit do not look good:

It's not surprising Real have struggled this season, because Cristiano Ronaldo has so far been disappointing.

After missing the start of the campaign through suspension, he hasn't been able to improve the team since his return:

Despite his importance to the side, Real should still be capable of winning most games without him given the talent they possess.

However, after making the decision to allow three squad players leave in the summer, Real are not as strong as they were last year, per ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan:

Madrid will need to recruit well to regain that strength in depth, but landing the targets they've selected will be difficult if not impossible in January.

Guedes is on loan at Valencia for the season from Paris Saint-Germain and will be unavailable until next summer.

He could join then, though, as a place in Les Parisiens' team will be hard to come by with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in the side, despite the stunning performances Guedes has produced with Valencia this year.

As for the other three, they could be complicated deals to pull off because Atleti will be reluctant to let any of their players cross the city divide, particularly in January.

Griezmann may well leave next summer so Real could look to steal in then, but any loyalty to Los Rojiblancos could prove difficult to overcome.

In the meantime Real could make use of reinforcements in January, but the targets shortlisted won't help in that regard.