With Jorge Valdano sacked from Real Madrid, a rarity has occurred at the club as the manager now has a significant influence on transfer signings.

The onus is now on Jose Mourinho to display his astuteness in the transfer market in order to catch Barcelona next season, and already, a host of names have been linked to the Bernabeu.

It’s likely Mourinho will look to bring in a striker over the summer. Cristiano Ronaldo’s contribution last season was talismanic, but relying on a single player is risky, given that the rest of the attacking payers failed to get even close to the record of the Portuguese forward.

Gonzalo Higuain started with promise, but a back injury, which required surgery, halted his campaign. Karim Benzema has yet to earn the full trust of Mourinho, which was evident in the Frenchman’s omission from both legs of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.

Emmanuel Adebayor was a competent short-term solution, but it’s now unlikely the Togo international will return to the Bernabeu on a permanent basis since Manchester City will be looking to recoup the £25 million fee they paid in July 2009.

Didier Drogba is a candidate that’s off the rumour mill radar but since the arrival of Fernando Torres, it’s likely the new manager, if he opts for a 4-3-3, will be forced to play the Spaniard over the Ivorian. And at 33, Drogba still has much to offer to an elite side and would be wasted as an impact substitute.

In an underwhelming season at Stamford Bridge, Drogba finished third in the club’s scoring charts with 13 goals behind Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda. But neither of the two Frenchman suffered from malaria during the campaign, which had a damaging impact on Drogba for a number months.

The arrival of Torres also saw the Ivorian on the bench to accommodate the Spaniard, and the disruption in the first team would have also had an impact on his goal tally last term.

Benzema was Madrid’s highest scoring striker, aside from Ronaldo last term, with 25 goals. But with Mourinho’s faith waning towards the Frenchman, would Drogba provide the perfect partner for the prolific Portugese forward at the Bernabeu?

Drogba’s ability to link up with players in attack proves him to be favourable over Benzema. The Chelsea man assisted 13 league goals last term, while Benzema registered five. Drogba’s 1.97 key passes per game count is also significantly higher than Benzema’s 0.97.

Drogba is also noticeably better in the air, as his aerial duel success rate is over half at 55%, while Benzema’s is at 33%.

But that’s where the Ivorian stops trumping Benzema statistically, and allows the Frenchman to shine.

With just an average of 1.1 turnovers per game, Benzema is able to keep hold of the ball better than Drogba, who registered an average of 2.9 turnovers per game. The Chelsea man’s pass success percentage was also the lowest out of his team last season at 62%, while Benzema registered a modest 81%.

The statistics indicate Drogba would fare better than Benzema when linking up with Ronaldo, but the Frenchman’s goal tally is impressive, giving his inconsistent selection and at 23, the Real Madrid forward has enough time to improve, while the Chelsea striker can only be viewed as another short-term fix to try and catch Barcelona.