Rodri has joined Barcelona, which is about as dangerous because the information may get for Actual Madrid and Jose Mourinho.
Not solely have they missed out on the proper resolution to their midfield drawback, however they’ve watched him be a part of their most bitter rivals. What subsequent?
We’ve picked out six alternate options for Actual Madrid to contemplate after shedding out on Rodri’s signature.
Martin Zubimendi
Xabi Alonso had reportedly recognized Zubimendi, with whom he’d labored in Actual Sociedad’s youth set-up, as the proper candidate for Actual Madrid’s midfield following the departures of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
Getting him a yr later could be spectacularly petty, however you’ll be able to’t rule that out when Florentino Perez
Zubimendi is arguably the obvious Rodri different on the market. He’s been Rodri’s understudy for Spain, and his wonderful performances off the bench within the Euro 2024 and 2026 World Cup finals recommend he can carry out the identical position on the highest stage.
The difficult bit could be prising him away from Arsenal. Zubimendi was strong with out setting the world alight for a lot of his debut season.
Nonetheless, there was a way that the bodily calls for of Premier League soccer ultimately took their toll.
Being dropped for Myles Lewis-Skelly within the Champions League closing maybe hinted {that a} return to Spain could possibly be on the playing cards ultimately.
Manu Kone
Kylian Mbappe would certainly vouch for the Roma midfielder, given his breakout performances for France on the World Cup.
He wouldn’t be an ideal Rodri analogue, however then once more, what number of gamers can replicate the skillset of a Ballon d’Or winner who was named one of the best participant in each of Spain’s current main event wins?
Kone may as an alternative present the mobility and combativeness to enrich a extra technical passer. Put him alongside somebody like Bernardo Silva and, collectively, you could possibly recreate a lot of what Rodri offers you individually.
However that’s the entire level: Rodri is one of the best midfielder on the earth as a result of he someway does the job of two gamers in a single. Madrid’s loss is Barcelona’s acquire.
Enzo Fernandez
We’re completely bored of the Enzo Fernandez saga at this level. Simply transfer already.
The Argentinian has already fluttered his eyelashes within the course of Madrid. He’d certainly love nothing greater than to flee the Premier League and getting roundly booed at each floor within the nation. However, up to now, Los Blancos have refused to flirt again.
He definitely looks like a greater match for Spanish soccer than English soccer, and an Argentine reunion with Cristian Romero at Atletico Madrid beneath Diego Simeone could be a match made in heaven.
You may simply think about Jose Mourinho loving him, too. Fairly how anybody comes up with the €120million required to get him out of Chelsea, although, is one other matter.
He’s not precisely a like-for-like Rodri different, however the truth that Manchester Metropolis are eyeing him as much as fill that void of their midfield is an endorsement of his credentials.
Angelo Stiller
It’s baffling that Stiller hasn’t bought a giant transfer away from Stuttgart but, and is simply making ripples within the hearsay mills.
For those who put religion in knowledge, the 25-year-old Germany worldwide would possibly simply be top-of-the-line defensive midfielders in European soccer proper now.
He doesn’t fairly possess the glamour you affiliate with a membership like Madrid, however then did Luka Modric after they signed him? Did Claude Makelele again within the day?
This can be a membership that does greatest after they counterbalance their star energy with a sprinkling of understated brilliance within the engine room.
Aleix Garcia
Like Stiller, Garcia is hardly the kind of signing that may have Madrid followers dizzy. However after they’ve splashed over €100million on a shiny new attacker, maybe a less expensive, extra useful possibility in midfield wouldn’t be such a foul thought.
Garcia isn’t a world-beater by any means, however he’s a Spain worldwide, confirmed in La Liga, and a minimum of matches the profile of what Madrid’s midfield is presently missing.
Getting prime gamers out of Bayer Leverkusen is a straightforward sufficient course of, too, as we’ve seen with the hearth sale of Xabi Alonso’s title-winning squad.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
We practically spat out our cornflakes after we got here throughout a report from Spanish radio station Cadena SER (by way of GOAL) suggesting that Mourinho is “banking on a shock card” in midfield by planning on utilizing Alexander-Arnold there. Yeah, proper.
We’re taking that with a large pinch of salt, however it’s not utterly with out logic. Clearly, Alexander-Arnold just isn’t a defensive midfielder that may display screen a backline.
However he has performed in midfield earlier than, and possesses a technical passing vary that Madrid have badly lacked since Kroos and Modric left (though Bernardo Silva will certainly assistance on that entrance).
Denzel Dumfries has arrived and appears rather more to Mourinho’s liking as a defensively sound right-back, leaving a clumsy query of the place that leaves the previous Liverpool man. Perhaps elsewhere on the teamsheet?
One among Rodri’s nice strengths is his capability to get his foot on the ball and management a sport from the midfield.
Alexander-Arnold may conceivably assist do this within the mixture, if we’re to go all Moneyball, however he’d certainly want a extra bodily and positionally disciplined presence alongside him.
A Trent-Aurelien Tchouameni pivot isn’t the worst thought on the earth on paper. We’ll consider it after we see it, although.
READ NEXT: Rodri and 9 extra gamers who selected Barcelona over Actual Madrid ft. Neymar, Messi, Eto’o…
TRY A QUIZ: Are you able to title each participant Actual Madrid have signed from the Premier League?
