Raphael Varane to Manchester United, Takefusa Kubo to Real Sociedad, and Brahim Diaz to Milan... these are the sort of deals on the horizon for Real Madrid this summer with no players in-coming to replace them.
Carlo Ancelotti knows he will have to make good with what he has next season as the club come out of the pandemic-induced economic dip.
In his first media appearance since pre-season training started, Ancelotti praised Isco and Marcelo and promised an 'energetic football' and plenty of 'intensity with and without the ball' on Thursday.
Spoken to Real Madrid TV at Valdebebas, they were the words of a man who knows he has to make the best of what he has and talking up players is the first step on the road to making sure everyone feels part of things when the first competitive ball is kicked.
Raphael Varane is set to be among the Real Madrid players heading for the exit this summer
Carlo Ancelotti (left) and his coaching staff understand the need to trim their bloated squad
'I've been impressed with the implication of Carvajal, Nacho, Marcelo, Lucas and Isco,' said Ancelotti. 'They are players who have won everything but they still have the hunger.'
Madrid's financial situation is far better than Barcelona's and there are no desperate player swaps being lined up to ease the wage bill. But anyone believing everything in the garden is rosy need only recall the desperation with which the club's president Perez tried to launch a new 'Super League' last April, declaring that football 'would be dead by 2024 without it'.
Barca's problem is that they can't pay their players, or even register them all under current LaLiga financial fair play rules. Madrid's problem is that they can't build the sort of super squad they have become accustomed to.
The club that historically has broken the world transfer record more than any other can no longer compete with clubs bankrolled by wealthy nation states.
Kylian Mbappe would, once upon a time, already have been the subject of a record-breaking offer, but in the current situation - with the coronavirus having wiped around €300m (£256m) off of Madrid's revenue since it first provoked football shutting down - they are resigned to waiting for him to see out his contract at the
