Despite strong interest from the likes of Sevilla, AS Roma, AS Monaco and Schalke 04, Mariano Diaz was adamant about his wish to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu, according to AS.

The striker doesn’t seem to fit in with the plans of Zinedine Zidane for this season, with the likes of Karim Benzema and newcomer Luka Jovic both ahead of him in the pecking order at the moment. Nonetheless, his wage demands, apparently set at €4 million per year, apparently put off all suitors except Schalke. The Bundesliga side were the only club willing to pay that kind of money, but Mariano wasn’t interested in moving to Gelsenkirchen simply because Schalke won’t be competing in Europe this season at all.

Zidane made his stance on the 26-year-old public, but the player also made it very clear from the start that he has no interest in leaving the Santiago Bernabeu this summer. For their part, Real are keen on recouping at least something of the €20 million they paid for his services in 2018.