Real Madrid News
Chelsea defender contacts Real Madrid again over summer move
A little over week after Real Madrid’s stellar win against Chelsea in the Champions League, the Galacticos have emerged once again in pursuit of Antonio Rudiger following a roadblock in negotiations earlier in the year.
Reports from MARCA suggest that Madrid are once again contemplating a summer move for the centre-back, who has also been linked to rivals Barcelona. Rudiger’s agents have reached out to Los Blancos to try and negotiate a move.
Rudiger’s Chelsea contract is due to end this June, but none the German’s many potential suitors have managed to make a lot of progress in negotiating a deal for him due to the exceptionally high contract demands.
The Spanish outlet stated that Rudiger’s entourage was demanding a four-year deal amounting to over 55 million euros in salary and bonuses, a figure that none of the candidates — all elite clubs in Europe — have been able to meet.
In their Champions League quarterfinal encounter, the 29-year-old reportedly impressed Real Madrid despite one slip-up that led to Karim Benzema’s goal.
Factors that may influence Madrid’s approach to him will certainly be whether or not he decides to be flexible with his economic demands, and whether the renewal of Eder Militao is completed easily.
The Whites are very happy with the Brazilian centre-back and are ready to reward him with a decent salary increase. If Rudiger is not willing to compromise, they will not make much of an effort to sign him.
Wages will also be an important factor for Barcelona if they pursue the German, but he may end up getting a lucrative deal with PSG or Juventus.
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.
