Real Madrid News
Real Madrid defensive outcast on the radars of Serie A champions – report
Real Madrid full-back Alvaro Odriozola is largely expected to leave the team this summer and if a report from Mundo Deportivo is to be believed, the 27-year-old’s next destination could be the Italian Serie A.
It has been reported before that Odriozola might return to Real Sociedad, where it all started for the right-back, but as it turns out, the 27-year-old has now attracted interest beyond the Spanish shores as well.
Who in Italy are interested?
As reported by Mundo Deportivo, Italian champions Napoli are looking to strengthen their defence and their search has brought them to Odriozola, an unwanted commodity at Real Madrid.
The Serie A giants are considering Odriozola’s experience of playing in Italy, having spent the 2021-22 season on loan at Fiorentina where he made27 appearances across all competitions, scoring a solitary goal.
Napoli manager Rudi Garcia is well aware of the 27-year-old’s past performances and he sees Odriozola as a decent candidate to strengthen the right-back spot.
As of now, while the interest continues to persist, they have not made the final decision yet.
Real Madrid want to sanction Odriozola’s exit
Odriozola’s current contract with Real Madrid runs until 2024 but the team from the capital city is intent on getting rid of the right-back before the new season starts.
The player, for his part, has accepted his fate and is currently evaluating all his options before making a decision.
Odriozola has not played for Real Madrid in either of their two pre-season friendly matches against AC Milan and Manchester United on their tour of the USA.
That he will be offloaded as part of Real Madrid’s transfer strategy is absolutely certain, but as of today, there are no bids, and neither an agreement is in place with any team.
Real Madrid News
Mourinho talks Carlos Espi, Diomande, Guler, Tchouameni, Atletico Madrid after Elche 2-3 Real Madrid
Real Madrid found another way to win, but Jose Mourinho was hardly celebrating the manner of it.
Carlos Espi’s injury-time strike completed a 3-2 comeback against Elche, rescuing Madrid after they had surrendered control of a game that appeared to be in their hands.
For Mourinho, the result was welcome, but the performance raised a familiar concern.
“When everything seems easy and you let things slide, it’s dangerous. Then the team reacts and wins, but it’s not pleasant.
“The other good thing is that nobody gets bored with these matches. They’re fun,” he began saying.
Mourinho knows what is going wrong
The Portuguese coach was particularly frustrated by another drop in intensity after the interval.
Real Madrid had opportunities to put the game beyond Elche before allowing their advantage to disappear. Mourinho believes that pattern is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
“It seems obvious to me. It’s easy to understand. These are games that are all but over, where we have chances to seal the deal but don’t. After failing to do so, we go from having it easy to losing control.
“If we play poorly from the first minute to the 90th, the concern is huge.
“If we have periods where we’re at our best and others where we’re not proactive, just waiting, lacking intensity… Of course it’s a concern. But we won.”
The win keeps Madrid moving, but Mourinho’s concern is less about the points than the way his team is repeatedly making matches unnecessarily complicated.
Carlos Espi again provided the decisive moment from the bench, although Mourinho knows breaking into the starting XI will be difficult with Mbappé ahead of him.
“He’s a guy who works hard and is very motivated,” Mourinho said.
He then added, “He’s up against a player who’s in a league of his own (Mbappe), and we’re well aware of that.”
Madrid derby comes at a delicate moment
Next up is Atletico Madrid, and Mourinho’s attention is already turning towards the derby.
Rather than focusing on the opposition, he remains concerned about his own side’s ability to manage matches.
“The only explanation I can find is that we can’t keep going like this. We misjudged the opportunities we had, and once they score a goal, everything changes,” explained the Real Madrid coach.
Meanwhile, there were positives to take from individual performances, as Mourinho praised Yan Diomande’s development after another energetic outing.
“He’s improving. Physically, you can tell he has more minutes under his belt. He has a great work ethic and intelligence—he’s done a great job.”
Mourinho refuses to call Guler indispensable
Arda Guler’s importance was also questioned after another fantastic performance, but Mourinho rejected the idea that any player is beyond replacement.
“No, no one is indispensable. We were losing control when I made the substitutions; Vini did a great job on defence, but he was very tired.
“And Arda, who was playing in the number 10 position, was also losing intensity.
“I brought in a fresh Jude and Brahim when we were down 0-2, but I could sense we were losing control. That’s how it goes for us. And then, we brought in the heavy artillery and turned it around.”
Mourinho was also pleased with Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde during Madrid’s strongest spells.
“When the team was playing well, he and Valverde were playing well. They broke through the pressure easily, with skill.
“But the game had two phases—or rather three: one until it was 0–2, another until it was 2–2, and another until the end. They did a good job,” he concluded.
Source: AS
