Real Madrid will reportedly reserve their No 9 shirt for Harry Kane as they prepare a £100million offer for the prolific Tottenham Hotspur and England striker.
With Karim Benzema departing the Bernabeu to play in Saudi Arabia, the Spanish press have wasted no time in pointing out that Kane is a ready-made replacement.
The emergence of Real's interest in Kane, 29, comes as a major blow to Manchester United, who also want to sign a centre forward who scored 30 Premier League goals in an underachieving Spurs team this season.
While the front covers of the Madrid sports dailies chose to focus on Benzema's emotional farewell in the 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao on Sunday night, there is plenty of coverage inside.
Marca report that Real have no doubt Kane is their No 1 choice to replace Benzema, with the No 9 shirt now vacant. Kane wears No 10 at Tottenham but Luka Modric has that shirt for Real.
Although only confirmed on Sunday, Real had been aware of Benzema's intentions to move on after 14 years for several days and had already started work on identifying replacements.
The report said Kane's name had been on the lips of the Real executive as they held meetings at the Valdebebas training complex in recent days.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti and the hierarchy admire Kane and they believe they'll get three or four seasons of top class performances from him.
Real also feel they have leverage with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, who doesn't want to sell Kane to a Premier League rival like United.
The reigning European champions have made first contact with both Spurs and Kane's representatives, but negotiations with Levy may not be straightforward.
Real know from the experience of buying Gareth Bale and Modric from Spurs that Levy is a formidable negotiator who will haggle the best possible price.
Diario AS quote the opinions of leading Spanish journalists on Cadena SER regarding Real's pursuit of Kane.
Marcos Lopez said Madrid 'is obliged to go for a great striker.' With Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland out of their reach at the moment, Kane is the best option available.