Real Madrid News
Galatasaray dream of signing €50 million-rated Real Madrid midfielder in January – report
Throughout the summer transfer window, Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga was strongly linked with a departure.
After going through an ordinary season, the 23-year-old French international was touted for a departure, especially with Los Blancos pushing to sign a new midfielder.
The former Rennes wonderkid, however, refused to leave, despite attracting interest from clubs across Europe.
Moreover, the club’s failure to land a new midfielder meant that Jose Mourinho also decided to retain Camavinga’s services.
Galatasaray set to come knocking again
However, now, according to Fanatik in Turkey (h/t AS), Galatasaray are once again interested in signing Camavinga in the upcoming January transfer window.
Indeed, the Turkish heavyweights see the Real Madrid midfielder as a ‘dream’ signing for the winter and have made him their No. 1 priority.
This comes after Galatasaray failed with a move for the Frenchman during the summer, having been ready to make a lucrative €50 million offer.
This time around, however, the Turkish giants’ plan is to sign Camavinga on loan until the end of the season.
Camavinga wants to stay
But, much like the summer window, Galatasaray are likely to face rejection from Camavinga as he wants to stay put at Real Madrid.
Indeed, the 23-year-old midfielder has no intentions of changing clubs midway through the season and will not consider leaving Los Blancos in January.
So far this season, Camavinga has played only 240 minutes across six games for Real Madrid, with only two of those being from the start.
As things stand, he is behind Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni in the pecking order, while summer signing Bernardo Silva also seems to be ahead of him.
But, Mourinho continues to trust Camavinga, and the player has also earned a recall to the France national team setup in the ongoing international break under new manager Zinedine Zidane.
Given all these factors, the Frenchman has zero intention of considering the possibility of leaving Real Madrid in the winter transfer window.
*Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication.
Real Madrid’s adventure so far under new coach Jose Mourinho has been far from perfect and this fact shouldn’t be lost even after the team’s brilliant comeback win over AS Roma in midweek.
However, there are areas where Los Blancos have shown a clear improvement under Mourinho, when compared to previous bosses such as Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa.
One of those areas has been set plays, with Real Madrid appearing far more potent from set pieces this season.
A clear improvement from last season
As reported by Diario AS, the three goals in Rome, all from Arda Guler corners inside a seven-minute blitz, were the perfect advert for the work being done at Valdebebas.
Those strikes took Real Madrid’s set-piece tally to seven goals in just ten matches this season. Four of them have come in La Liga, one from a corner and three from free kicks, with the trio in Rome completing the haul.
It is a striking figure when set against last season’s return. Under Alonso and Arbeloa, Madrid managed 12 set-piece goals across the entire campaign, all in La Liga, split evenly between six from corners and six from free kicks.
On current trends, this side looks well placed to surpass that number comfortably.
The reason behind Real Madrid’s improvement
Attacking set pieces are led at Valdebebas by Pedro Machado, with the whole coaching staff involved and Mourinho himself giving the final green light on every routine.
Defending them, meanwhile, falls to Sami Khedira, though it is treated as a collective effort. Mourinho’s appreciation of that teamwork was clear when Bellingham headed in a Guler free kick against Espanyol, prompting the manager to leap up and embrace his assistants.
Machado, one of Mourinho’s most trusted lieutenants, has followed him from Fenerbahce to Benfica and now Madrid, part of a backroom team blending experience with young, ambitious talent.
On the pitch, Guler is the undisputed master when available, his left foot the key weapon, with Bernardo Silva, Trent Alexander-Arnold and even Diomande also trusted to initiate attacks.
Such meticulous strategy has helped Real Madrid turn into a potent side from set-pieces this season.
