Real Madrid News
Real Madrid trust 18-year-old defensive prospect for the future – Romano
According to Fabrizio Romano, Real Madrid trust Vinicius Tobias as an option for the right-back spot in the first-team setup for the future.
The 18-year-old Tobias signed for Real Madrid in April last year, arriving from Shakhtar Donetsk on a loan deal with an option for a permanent purchase.
While the Brazilian prospect has been unable to make his senior debut for Los Blancos as of yet, he has been performing admirably for Raul Gonzalez’s RM Castilla outfit.
Indeed, Vinicius Tobias has played 20 times for Castilla this term, registering four assists in the process. The teenager has also turned out three times for the club’s U-19 setup in the UEFA Youth League, chalking up an assist there as well.
The right-back had been called up to the first-team squad for the Copa del Rey encounter against Villarreal but remained an unused substitute.
There have been concerns surrounding the right-back department at Real Madrid of late as Dani Carvajal’s injury issues are surfacing again while Lucas Vazquez is not a natural full-back.
It had led to speculations that Los Blancos could look to sign a new right-back in the summer, but reports suggest that there are no such plans at the moment.
Furthermore, Romano has also reported that the Spanish champions were offered a chance to sign Joao Cancelo last month, but turned down the opportunity as they did not want to change their squad, while they retain complete faith in Tobias.
This seems to indicate that Real Madrid could decide to trigger the permanent purchase option in the Brazilian’s loan agreement.
In what could be a real deal breaker for Real Madrid ahead of their Copa del Rey semi-final second leg clash against Barcelona, it has been revealed that as many as three Barça will be absent from the game while another key player remains a major doubt.
The list includes the likes of Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Andreas Christensen. The trio is certain to miss the game through respective injuries while a certain Frenkie de Jong is more or less ruled out, as per Javi Miguel.
It must be remembered that Barcelona are heading into the second leg with a 1-0 advantage. But the absence of the aforementioned players means Madrid can work on exploiting the frailties.
Despite the absence of such big names, Barcelona did pretty well against Elche in their previous outing, coming out 4-0 victorious, with the goals coming from Robert Lewandowski, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.
With options lacking in midfield, Xavi decided to use the likes of Sergi Roberto and Eric Garcia along with Gavi in the heart of the lineup. In any way, they do have Sergio Busquets and Franck Kessie as backups if needed.
The defence, on the other hand, was perfectly guarded by Jordi Alba, Marcos Alonso, Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde.
One can expect Xavi to once again interchange Araujo with Kounde on the right since the Uruguayan has been rather successful in minimizing the threat of Vinicius Jr.
As far as Madrid are concerned, they are sweating over the fitness of three key defenders, namely, Antonio Rudiger, Nacho, and Ferland Mendy. Between these three, the Frenchman is out for about a month while Rudiger and Nacho are expected to be back before the Clasico.
If there are no casualties against Real Valladolid, Madrid will have a perfect midfield and attack, with only Mariano Diaz missing.
