Real Madrid News
Villarreal eye last-minute swoop for out-of-favour Real Madrid defender – report
Villarreal have enjoyed a solid start to the 2022/23 La Liga season with seven points in their opening three games. The Yellow Submarine are undefeated so far, recording two wins and one draw.
The focus is now to keep their momentum going. At the club, it is believed that signing a quality right-back will be a big step towards that objective, following the injury to first-choice option Juan Foyth.
According to reports from MARCA, Real Madrid outcast Alvaro Odriozola has emerged as a real option for Villarreal.
Los Blancos have the right-back position well covered with Dani Carvajal as the first choice and Lucas Vazquez as a competent backup option. With Vinicius Tobias also available, Odriozola, as it appears, is surplus.
Real Madrid have been working towards his exit for several months now, but have failed to engineer the transfer. The biggest hurdle in his departure is his high wages that clubs are not willing to cover.
Yesterday, it was reported that Real Sociedad, Odriozola’s former club, were interested in signing him back. While the option of returning home is tempting, it will not be easy for the player to turn down Villarreal, who now see him as a replacement for the injured Foyth.
Last season, the 26-year-old Odriozola played on loan at Fiorentina. In 25 league appearances, he scored one goal and provided one assist. However, he averaged just four defensive actions per game and oversaw three clean sheets.
It remains to be seen if Real Madrid cover a part of Odriozola’s salary or if the player takes a wage cut in order to secure a transfer to Villarreal. A decision will have to be made soon, given that the transfer window will close in a little over a day.
Arda Guler’s Real Madrid stint has not gotten off to the start he would have hoped to have given the expectation that preceded the transfer.
Having joined in the summer after Real Madrid outbid their competition to win him over from Fenerbahce for a 20-million-euro fee, buzz was high as the winger was expected to slot into the team quite seamlessly, albeit on a rotational basis.
Unfortunately for the 18-year-old, he has been constantly marred by injuries since completing the move.
Reports have stated that after Guler picked up his third injury since his move, Real Madrid have been concerned and want to take things slow with the player to ensure he is fit as soon as possible after an injury to his quadriceps this time.
The Turk is yet to make his competitive debut for the club, and Real Madrid even sacked their medical chief in November, in light of their injury crises since the beginning of the season.
No loan deal for Guler
However, according to Fabrizio Romano in a recent YouTube video, he states that Madrid maintain full trust and patience in the youngster.
Despite his bad luck with injuries, the latest of which he is scheduled to return from after Christmas, the Galacticos have no intention of loaning out Guler to Turkish clubs despite lots of speculation of them doing so of late.
Romano states that Madrid remain firm on not shaking things up too much with the squad, and they want to keep their roster stable, including Arda Guler.
They want to extend their full support and protection to the player as he aims to return to full fitness and finally make his bow for Madrid either by the end of this month or in 2024.
