Real Madrid News
Jose Mourinho’s big selection dilemma ahead of Real Madrid vs Real Sociedad revealed
Jose Mourinho’s first official starting lineup back at Real Madrid had some surprises at the weekend, especially in midfield.
Aurelien Tchouameni was absent on the night, prompting Mourinho to deploy an interesting midfield pivot with Federico Valverde and Bernardo Silva.
Jude Bellingham naturally started as the attacking midfielder, and the manager opted to deploy Arda Guler as well in place of a right-winger.
Ultimately, the extra-man in midfield paid off and helped Real Madrid create chances against Espanyol, many of which came from the feet of Guler himself.
A dilemma for tonight
As confirmed by AS in a recent update, the Real Madrid manager is now in a dilemma ahead of the team’s match day 1 clash scheduled for later today.
Facing off against Real Sociedad, he is conflicted on whether to retain the extra man in midfield or drop the advantage for a natural right-winger. Guler or Diomande – that is the question.
The two players are competing for a starting spot tonight, both for a place on the right-wing on paper. While Diomande will stick wide as a traditional winger, however, the Turkish star will drop more centrally into a creative role.
Both players will undoubtedly have minutes, but it remains to be seen who starts and who comes on as a substitute.
Price tag matters
Under usual circumstances, it would be a no-brainer for Guler to continue starting after the performance he dropped in the previous game.
The issue, however, is that he is not competing for a spot with any other player but the club’s record signing.
Yan Diomande became Real Madrid’s costliest arrival when he signed for the club earlier this summer, and with that price tag comes a natural requirement to start.
His cameo off the bench at the weekend, however, was anything but promising and it will thus be interesting to see how Mourinho tackles the situation.
Will the manager go for the bigger name and more lavish signing under pressure to field him? Or will he hand minutes to a seasoned player who dropped a superior performance just days ago? A big decision awaits.
Real Madrid News
Jose Mourinho was always clear about getting rid of Real Madrid midfielder this summer – report
Real Madrid’s summer transfer window was largely successful, not only in terms of securing key arrivals but also in terms of letting go of players who had no place in the dynamics.
One player who stood out in the second category was Dani Ceballos as the Spanish midfielder was frozen out of Real Madrid’s starting dynamics for several years before his eventual departure.
In the end, the club simply let the player leave as a free agent by accepting a contract termination as they saw the salary space freed as a win compared to his presence.
Mourinho’s clear stance
As confirmed in a recent report by Diario AS, Real Madrid’s new manager Jose Mourinho has no doubt that he did not count on Ceballos for the ongoing season.
Being the straightforward communicator that he is, the Portuguese manager directly informed Ceballos that he did not count on him in any capacity, speaking out loud about a fact that was known as an open secret for a long time.
Having clarity that his situation at the club was not going to change, Ceballos pressed to leave and eventually had his way as the club allowed him to walk out of the front door with no transfer fee.
Times were tense
The Spanish outlet also add that the decision to let the player leave with a contract termination was not easy for Real Madrid to accept, especially given that it is a last resort.
In the negotiations between Ceballos and the Real Madrid hierarchy, there were some moments filled with tension and disagreements.
In fact, there was even an initial exit agreement that was reached which was cancelled in the hope of a better outcome.
Eventually, however, both parties reached a fitting resolution and Real Madrid enabled the player’s departure without any hurdles and Ceballos went on to join Real Betis.
Even that move required the player to take a massive cut on his salary, but the saga worked out well for both clubs as the player. From Real Madrid’s perspective, the space created on the team’s roster was worth its weight in gold.
