Real Madrid News
Real Madrid set €60 million spending cap for top midfield target, price tag set at €100 million
The past 24 hours have seen the mood around Rodri’s transfer news to Real Madrid fluctuate between optimism and pessimism.
There is no doubt that the player is rated highly by the Real Madrid management and represents their best chance for the club to fill the exact void they have in midfield.
Florentino Perez, however, has been personally blocking the move citing Rodri’s age and recent injuries as concerns. Yesterday there was word that he had finally been convinced to give the green light, but it soon came to light that it was a false alarm.
A question of price
The first step towards signing Rodri for Real Madrid involves the club president handing the green light to the move. That, however, will not be the end of the road.
As reported by L’Equipe, there is a massive discrepancy between Manchester City’s asking price and Real Madrid’s spending limit – one that cannot be overlooked even if the clubs begin negotiations.
Manchester City ask for €100 million for their veteran midfielder, especially after his Golden Ball-winning performance at the FIFA World Cup. His valuation is at an all-time high, and they are intent on capitalising on the same.
Los Blancos, however, refuse to spend more than €60 million to sign Rodri and have their spending limit set on the player. The €40 million difference, needless to say, cannot be overlooked.
A sense of urgency
The French outlet also further states that Real Madrid are now preparing to launch an attack for the Spaniard and that things have changed with respect to Perez’s stance. He was not fully convinced, but matters are beginning to take a turn.
For starters, the club now believe that its ‘absolutely necessary’ to sign a player for the ‘Toni Kroos’ role.
While that includes marshalling the troops and dictating the flow of the game through the middle, it also involves the leadership aspect Kroos used to provide.
In that sense, there is an understanding that Rodri is the right player to fill that void, but only if he arrives at the right price.
The coming weeks will be critical in putting an end to the saga one way or the other.
Kylian Mbappe’s blistering start to the season has already hit its first bump, with the Real Madrid forward’s missed penalty against Real Betis exposing an area of his game that has historically been less reliable.
Mbappe had given Madrid fans plenty of reasons for optimism in the opening weeks.
He scored a hat-trick against Real Sociedad before finding the net again against Malaga, making it four goals across his first three matches of the season.
The performance against Betis, though, was a different story.
Mbappe struggled to make the same impact and then missed an injury-time penalty, with Alvaro Valles making the save as Madrid eventually suffered a 0-1 defeat.
Mbappe’s penalty numbers make uncomfortable reading
Mbappe’s latest miss adds to a record that is far from elite when compared with some of Real Madrid’s previous specialists.
Including the Betis penalty, Mbappe has now missed 16 of the 81 penalties he has taken during his career, excluding shoot-outs. That represents a failure rate of 19.7%.
His numbers with Real Madrid are even less convincing, having converted 19 of 24 penalties for the club, meaning his miss rate stands at 20.8%, effectively one missed penalty in every five attempts.
Mbappe’s record compared with Madrid legends
The comparison with Real Madrid’s previous penalty takers provides better context.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed only 13 of his 92 penalties, giving him a miss rate of 14.1%. Sergio Ramos was considerably more dependable, missing just one of his 23 attempts, which is a rate of 4.3%.
All three sets of figures exclude penalty shoot-outs, making the comparison more relevant to normal match situations.
Mbappe therefore has work to do if he is to reach the level of reliability expected from a team’s primary penalty taker.
Sure, his overall goalscoring numbers remain outstanding, but penalties are an important part of that production.
Mourinho should keep faith with Mbappe
Meanwhile, there is little reason for Jose Mourinho or the Real Madrid dressing room to lose confidence in Mbappe because of one miss on matchday four.
His opening performances, particularly the hat-trick against Real Sociedad, provide ample evidence of his quality, and the greater concern may be psychological rather than tactical.
Mbappe’s confidence from the spot will be worth watching, especially because of what he is chasing this season.
The Ballon d’Or, Pichichi and Golden Boot are all among his ambitions, and penalties offer a valuable route towards the goals required for those prizes.
