Real Madrid News
Real Madrid midfielder offered a new three-year deal worth €5 million per season
Dani Ceballos finds himself at a crossroads. The Spaniard’s contract runs out in the summer, and the decision between leaving as a free agent or staying at Real Madrid rests entirely on his shoulders.
According to reports from Tomas Gonzalez-Martin, Ceballos would have a renewal offer with a salary of €5 million per season. The duration of the proposed extension will be three years with an option to extend for a further season.
Normally, such an extension would be a no-brainer for any player at Real Madrid. The catch, however, is that Ceballos would be a squad player upon renewal.
The Spaniard is already the fifth-choice midfielder behind Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga. Assuming Jude Bellingham joins in the summer, Ceballos will be pushed further down the pecking order.
The player’s decision, thus, depends on his prioritisation of playing time. Still 26 years of age, Ceballos has the best years of his career ahead of him and it would be strange to see him settle for a role on the bench.
The Spaniard has no shortage of suitors, with former club Real Betis said to be one of the teams interested in his services.
The midfielder has a special history with Real Betis where he made his initial breakthrough into senior football. He moved to Real Madrid for €15 million in 2017 and could be open to a return if things do not work out with his contract extension.
Ceballos has made 17 league appearances for Real Madrid this season, providing one assist in the process. He averages a key pass in every game and averages six defensive actions per game.
The coming months will be key in the midfielder deciding his future, for it will depend on the extent to which Carlo Ancelotti includes him in the team’s dynamics.
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.
BrandNew
March 8, 2023 at 10:08 am
I really hope Real will NOT get Bellingham, he is just another Tchouameni, heavy and slow, disappointing, definitely not UCL-winner level… See last evening’s match Chelsea-Dortmund, Bellingham lost lots of balls and did no important ball retrieval…