Real Madrid coach rules out another striker

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has for the moment ruled out adding another striker to his star-packed squad.

Speaking after his side's 1-1 draw against Inter Milan in California, which ended with Real Madrid losing a penalty shoot-out, the Italian was quizzed over the fact that Gareth Bale, who opened the scoring with a 25-yard-shot, was forced to play as centre forward, Xinhua reported.

The club may have signed attacking midfielder James Rodriguez and Tony Kroos, but the departure of Alvaro Morata to Juventus leaves Karim Benzema, who is still resting following the World Cup as their only specialist striker.

Real Madrid have been linked to Monaco forward Radamel Falcao but with the Colombian still to prove his fitness after a knee injury Ancelotti says that for the moment there will be no new arrival.

"We have various options to play with the squad: first of all we have Benzema, who is very reliable, Isco can play as a false striker... so it is not important to have a center-forward who can score a lot of goals," he said.

"We needed a player who could put crosses in for Bale or Cristiano, but we are not going to look for another striker, because we don't need one," continued the Real Madrid coach, who was delighted with Bale's performance after the summer break and looking forward to working with James after his 80 million euro signing from Monaco.

"He is arriving on August 1 and he is an important player with quality to play in our team. He is very young and an investment for the future," he said.

James' arrival has raised many doubts about the future of Angel Di Maria, who was perhaps Real Madrid's best player in the second half of last season, as well as enjoying an excellent World Cup before injury forced him to miss the final.

PSG and Manchester United are both rumoured to be looking at a player who is thought to be keen to leave Real Madrid, unhappy at criticism he received at times last campaign.

"I have no news of us selling Di Maria," said the coach, "He has finished the World Cup and on August 5 he is meant to be with us in Valdebebas to get back to training," he said.