Real Madrid News
Real Madrid outcast could be headed for AS Roma loan move – report
According to Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Mundo Deportivo), Real Madrid misfit Alvaro Odriozola could be headed to Italian outfit AS Roma on a loan deal in the January transfer window.
The Spanish right-back spent the last season on loan at Fiorentina and was expected to depart permanently in the summer after returning to the Spanish capital club.
However, no exit materialised and Odriozola ended up staying put at Real Madrid. However, the 26-year-old has been out of favour under Carlo Ancelotti and has not played a single minute of competitive football in 2022/23.
With Dani Carvajal, Lucas Vazquez, and Antonio Rudiger utilised ahead of him in the right-back position, there is simply no place for Odriozola in the Real Madrid setup.
So, an exit in the January window has been mooted for a while now. AS Roma have shown an interest in the former Real Sociedad ace with Jose Mourinho on the lookout for a new right-back heading into the January transfer window.
And as per the aforementioned report, Odriozola could be closing in on a switch to the Italian capital club. The outlet bases this claim on a meeting between the Giallorossi and Giuseppe Bozzo, owner of AGB Sport Management, who had helped push the defender’s loan to Fiorentina last year.
It is further suggested that Odriozola could sign for Roma on loan until the end of the season, with Mourinho’s team likely to retain a purchase option for the Spanish full-back.
Real Madrid, for their part, are unlikely to pose any hurdles in the move. So, there might be a good chance that the transfer goes through in the winter.
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.
