De Tomás wants to return to Madrid...but under one condition

In terms of Real Madrid's loanees, Raúl de Tomás has been one of the biggest stories of the year. The striker rejoined Rayo Vallecano, this time in the first division, and has so far notched 14 goals this campaign. At the end of the season, the 24 year-old forward is set to return to his parent club.

He is one of a group of players that the Spanish giants, unable to offer tangible first team minutes, allowed to leave on loan - but the case of de Tomás could be different to the others. Seeing the opportunity for him to establish himself in the first team, Zidane has given his seal of approval to the striker's return. Nevertheless de Tomás, now established as a regular in La Liga, is asking for more.

More specifically, de Tomás wants to have the assurance that he will be able to fight for a spot in Madrid's starting XI, according to AS. With the in-form Benzema set to stay next season and the possible summer arrival of new attackers, the Spanish forward doesn't want to return to the Bernabéu to be a bit-part player - he intends to play a leading role. 

De Tomás, however, is not demanding a starting berth - he would just like to have the same first-team opportunities as the others. If he can be assured this by Zidane, it is highly likely that the poacher will form part of Real Madrid's first-team squad the coming season. At 24 years of age, de Tomás feels that this is the right moment to take a step up in his sporting career, and a return to Los Blancos could prove to be just that.

If he opts not to stay at Madrid, there will be no shortage of interest in Rayo´s leading scorer. Throughout Europe as well as in Spain, his stock has risen this season. Looking further forward, de Tomás can dream of a place in Spain´s squad for Euro 2020 - but he will need quality first team minutes to do so.