Real Madrid News
Real Madrid, Barcelona keeping tabs on 19-year-old Bundesliga generational talent
With Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich closely monitoring his situation last March for the summer transfer window, Florian Wirtz suffered the worst injury a footballer can see.
Having ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, the youngster faced 265 days on the sidelines, missing close to 32 games for Bayer Leverkusen.
His serious injury made the European three question his ability to come back strong, for it is not uncommon that an ACL tear destroys a player’s career. Yet, the player is now back stronger than ever and is garnering attention again.
According to reports from Fabrizio Romano (h/t Madrid Xtra), Real Madrid are amongst the several clubs still keeping tabs on the young attacking midfielder. Barcelona are also following the player.
While Jude Bellingham is their primary target in the position, the German is seen as a good backup in case the Borrusia Dortmund player’s transfer does not go through.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich are closely monitoring the German’s situation too. The Bavarians already have a protege in the same position in Jamal Musiala, while the Blaugrana’s economic situation does not give them enough room to pull off the deal.
The 19-year-old has a contract running until 2027 with the Bundesliga side, thus placing a possible transfer at the more expensive end of the spectrum.
In just eight games since his return from injury, the teenager has scored two goals and provided four assists. He has given the hope that he will return to his imperial best soon, pushing interested parties, including Los Blancos towards faster negotiations.
The youngster revealed in 2021 that his dream was to play at Barcelona at some stage in his career. It remains to be seen if his Catalan orientation has any role to play in his response to Real Madrid’s approach.
“I always want to be the best. As a kid, I dreamt of playing for Barcelona. That has not changed, but it can wait.”
Real Madrid News
Rayo Vallecano manager names the one Real Madrid figure he would remove from the team
Rayo Vallecano face a daunting trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on a wounded Real Madrid this weekend.
Life after Inigo Perez has not been kind to the Vallecas-based club, who have already had to travel to Camp Nou and now face a trip to the home of their city giants.
Speaking ahead of the game (h/t Madrid Xtra), Rayo Vallecano manager Benat San Jose was asked which Real Madrid player he would like to remove from the team before this weekend’s game.
Surprisingly, his choice was not Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior or Thibaut Courtois.
“Mourinho”
Asked which Madrid player he would take out of the upcoming contest, Benat jokingly chose the man sitting on the opposition bench.
“Which Real Madrid player I’d remove from the match against them? Mourinho,” Benat said with a laugh.
The answer might have been delivered jokingly, but the Rayo coach immediately made clear just how highly he rates the Portuguese manager.
“He’s one of the best managers in history,” he added.
It is significant praise ahead of Saturday’s meeting at the Bernabeu.
Madrid’s squad contains enough individual quality to give any opposition coach several obvious answers, but Benat instead highlighted the influence Mourinho can have over the entire team.
That has become particularly relevant since the Portuguese coach returned to Madrid. His early work has focused on making a talented group function with greater collective discipline.
Courtois and Madrid’s attack also praised
Benat did not stop with the manager.
“They also have one of the best GKs in history and one of the best attackers in history,” he said.
Benat will definitely have seen how Thibaut Courtois played against Inter Milan in midweek and will hope that version does not turn up again this weekend.
Even when teams manage to create opportunities against Madrid, they still have to beat one of the defining goalkeepers of his generation.
At the opposite end, Madrid possess attacking quality capable of turning a match on its head.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham can all decide matches single-handedly.
Madrid have a point to prove
Madrid are coming off a disappointing loss to Real Betis in La Liga last weekend and will come into this game with a point to prove.
They will want to ensure that the loss to the Andalusian club was a one-off and that they return to winning ways against Rayo.
Their title rivals, Barça, have been flying high in the league, scoring goals and picking opponents apart for fun.
Madrid need to ensure that they do not hand too much early incentive to Barça, and it remains to be seen how Los Blancos fare against Rayo Vallecano.
