The rumors surrounding Real Madrid's goalie have started again and this time it seems that French keeper Hugo Lloris might be the new target.

While Lloris is certainly an elite netminder with a ton of upside, the question beckons: Does Madrid really need a new goalkeeper? Especially after picking up Keylor Navas.

A lot of this debate has to do with Iker Casillas. Everyone knows the story.

It was June 13. Spain was set to defend its World Cup title against the Netherlands. Many saw Spain as the favorites despite some reasonable questions about the form of certain individuals. One player who had a lot to prove was Iker Casillas, the man who hoisted the nation's first World Cup and the two Euro Cup trophies over the last six years.

Casillas had gone through a ton of ups and downs over the last two years as he watched most of Real Madrid's matches from the bench and nearly cost his team La Decima in the Champions League final. There were many wondering why he got the start in Spain's net for the World Cup, especially with a far more in-form David De Gea on the squad.

A few minutes into the first World Cup group game, the netminder was called on to make a huge save on a near-breakaway from Wesley Sneijder. It looked like he would be just fine and Spain strolled to a 1-0 lead off a questionable penalty call. The game looked in control and it looked like Spain would continue to dominate the world.

But then it all came crashing down.

Robin van Persie scored a glorious header goal off a Daley Blind cross, but Casillas misplayed the cross and was way out of position on the header. If he had stayed put, he might have given himself a chance to stop it. He would unravel throughout the remainder of the game and gifted a fourth goal to the Dutch off a poor touch. It was an embarrassing display and Casillas' confidence would be destroyed for the ensuing game against Chile.

The sloppy form continued throughout the preseason for Real Madrid and the start of the season. Casillas' team was disastrous defensively, but he was doing little to aid the troops by making poor decisions on setpieces. The play was so poor that he started hearing boos from his home fans and the debate over whether Keylor Navas should finally take over the reins as the Number One man crescendoed.

It came to a boiling point in a Euro qualifier against Slovakia in which Casillas conceded two poor goals, including a howler off a setpiece that would make infamous England keeper Robert Green look good. Again, the calls for his head continued.

That game took place on Oct. 9.

But since then, Casillas has turned heads. For the right reasons.

Part of that has to do with Real Madrid's improved defense in the 4-4-2 system, but the keeper has done a lot to help himself, as well. He has only conceded one goal in his last seven games for club and country. The lone tally against came in the famed Clasico when Neymar blasted a glorious shot from the edge of the box at Casillas' far post. But in that same game, the netminder made a huge save on Messi that would have given the opposition a 2-0 lead. He also made a fabulous stop on a long range missile from Jeremy Mathieu that could have tied the game at 2-2. He made four saves in that game overall.

His finest match in that recent run came right after the Slovakia game when he made five saves as Madrid torched Athletic Bilbao 5-0 at home. He also made five saves in a game against Granada where Madrid's defense committed a number of sloppy mistakes.

And he made a tremendous save for Spain against Germany on Tuesday against Mario Goetze.

Over the entire run, he has made 17 saves.

Casillas' distribution has been solid this season with a 71 percent passing completion rate in both the Champions League and Spanish League. His historical average is 64.5 percent and his passing success this season in the league (65.8 percent) is actually the best it has been since the 2011-12 season.

So it is safe to say that Casillas is improving despite some shaky performances early on.

Casillas still has a long way to go before looking like the superstar keeper of years past and it is possible that he may never regain that form again. But for the time being, he is proving that he is far from finished and that he is still certainly a solid, if not elite, keeper that can still have a huge impact on the game.

So it goes back to the main point. With Casillas finding his way and Navas, all of 27 years old, waiting in the wings, is it really necessary for Los Blancos to go out and splurge on yet another goalie? To what effect?