Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

Camavinga is that press resistant midfielder though, he has lots of creativity. Neither cama or valverde are DM’s

Re vini’s passport, apparently Haaland isn’t registered yet waiting in Jesus. I would hope as an organization, they can accelerate the passport, but if not it will likely be Gnabry. On a different front apparently Hazard had a great day, so it is possible he may contribute and provide that 3rd forward at times. In other words the options likely will be Jesus / Gnabry, Rodrygo, Valverde or Hazard. This could be a big improvement over last season.

It may not be bad to us trying a different kind of midfield than CKM who have been in Madrid for years. I find that when you have an elite group of players, trying to replace them for like to like players never works, because they chase what their predecessors were doing rather than trying to express their own personality.

Camavinga, Tchouameni and Valverde thus are an interesting proposition. All box to box, all very active chasers, all above average with the ball. Reminds me of Essien-Makelele-Lampard. I hope Carlo use them in a way that makes them play their best roles, rather than trying to reproduce what we had for years

@Fennec

I believe that with the emergence of Fede and Camavinga, we would’ve gone with 4231 or some double pivot formation, as they complement each other perfectly. or in a 433 coupled with a more offensive mid like Jude Bellingham or Szoboszlai than a destroyer like Tchouameni

this midfield lacks finesse, creativity and technique if u ask me

@Nick

completely agree that we shouldn’t try to replicate CKM but that’ve wouldn’t have been possible anyway, because cama and fede are very different midfielders to them. it’s just that i’m not a fan of this combination. Camavinga - Fede - Modric has worked brilliantly and imo we should have gone after a Modric replacement in this formula, instead of a DM. I like Camavinga very much in that DLP role, and Fede is a world class B2B (kind of similar to Kimmich - Goretzka)

Cama-Valverde-Casemiro also worked perfectly don't forget

Noticia @partidazocope

Informa Paco González:

: El Real Madrid no fichará a ningún delantero para la próxima temporada

Si se marchan Jovic o Mariano, se quedaría en el equipo Borja Mayoral https://t.co/EWHzsheXSO

— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) June 9, 2022

FML

In before Perez: Hazard is like a new signing

Valkyrja wrote:@Fennec

I believe that with the emergence of Fede and Camavinga, we would’ve gone with 4231 or some double pivot formation, as they complement each other perfectly. or in a 433 coupled with a more offensive mid like Jude Bellingham or Szoboszlai than a destroyer like Tchouameni

this midfield lacks finesse, creativity and technique if u ask me

@Nick

completely agree that we shouldn’t try to replicate CKM but that’ve wouldn’t have been possible anyway, because cama and fede are very different midfielders to them. it’s just that i’m not a fan of this combination. Camavinga - Fede - Modric has worked brilliantly and imo we should have gone after a Modric replacement in this formula, instead of a DM. I like Camavinga very much in that DLP role, and Fede is a world class B2B (kind of similar to Kimmich - Goretzka)

Although I agree with and understand this sentiment, I do think we can still go for a world class dynamic attacking center midfielder either next year or the year after. I don't think we'll see Modric or Kroos in two seasons time and thus we'll need more midfielders and more variety. Like i've said in the past and like Nick mentioned here, the Essien/Makalele-Lampard-Ballack midfield comes to mind, and this is something that i've been longing for for a while.  

Now, I don't think that we should necessarily be trying to go for a copy cat wannabe version of any great player, but I do think we can learn from player profiles. Modric is the perfect midfielder because he could do everything because he has everything, and the ideal thing would be to have physical bulls with very good to great technique that could allow for dynamic and varied possibilities on the pitch. I wish we had a football department that I could feel more confident with regarding the overall player acquisition and team building philosophy. Sometimes I see some of our purchases and they don't seem to well thought out, e.g. Jovic or Brahim.

Really, we should be going for footballers who are true professionals, athletic bulls, and technically good enough. Shouldn't focus too much on stiff tree trunk players or short un-athletic CAM midgets. More dynamic midfielders and fast goal scoring penetrative wingers. Easier said than done.

I find it ironic with the criticism of this Tchouameni purchase when most of you were pushing that all of KCM had to go and also that we were always exposed with only the one DM. Also there was the criticism of Flo not making purchases.

So when he goes about making this purchase and Rudgier, it’s seems people saying either it’s not enough and this one in particular isn’t the right one.

We all know that all purchases don’t work out, but we have at least a year to see how they do and also all of KCM won’t depart at once. To MTO’s, the backfill for KCM when they do depart is how they can determine, and what may be available, will be when that is done. These three youngers will not take fully over this season. I expect all 6 will see plenty of action including some games where we will see a 4 man mid.

The two variables for me this season, does Hazard return to his good form as he demonstrated yesterday and how does the continual development of Rodrigo go.

If both of these are positive, with improved midfield and defense, this could turn out to be a great season.

KCM as a group needed to be moved on. But Casemiro still has a lot to offer and is still young.

About Hazard, now there's some sort of cult following that he's back after getting a plate removed from his ankle and comments he made.

Actions speaking louder than words

We have the best 9 in the world and we weren't going to bring in Haaland to have him on the bench, right? Clause in two years? I don't know. We have no interest now other than to build the new team with the youngsters we have and some reinforcement."

Perez confirming that it was in fact having Benzema that prevented us from going for Haaland and not Mpaypal

️ Florentino Pérez: "There is no non-aggression pact with Atleti. If we want to sign Joao Felix, then we'll talk to the club." @elchiringuitotv

— Infinite Madrid (@InfiniteMadrid) June 15, 2022

Joao Felix wouldn't be a bad signing at all

Félix is a solid 50 millions player. Atletico got conned into paying twice that amount and they will ask 3 times the amount to wash their embarrassment. No thanks

Felix is an absolutely amazing player and Atleti would be fucking mad to sell him to Real for any price

Based on Perez's interview, I feel like RM won't be making any high-profile attacking signings e.g. Gnabry. With the signing of Tchouameni, Fede will probably continue to get a lot of minutes at RW as the midfield is way too stacked. And Perez's comments about Rodrygo seem to indicate that the club rates him very highly and is willing to put their faith in him (said he will amaze people and can win the Ballon d'Or in the future). There may be no new signings even if Asensio leaves as he was already 3rd choice RW by the end of the season, a role that Arribas or Peter can fulfill.

As for backup ST we'll probably have Mayoral coming back from loan, which is quite underwhelming but at least he is similar to Benzema in profile.

I wouldn’t write it off completely Zees. There still are 2 months left!

The main thing Flo is saying is they aren’t going to sign a competitive #9 for 2 years as Benz is clearly the guy.

But that doesn’t rule out signing a RW who can also play CF if and when needed.

There is current dilemma at RW. Rodrygo is still developing and can possibly turn out to be the longer term solution. But he needs to be eased into that role. The other issue is Asensio is surely gone as are all other forwards with the exception of Benz, Vini, Rodrygo, Hazard and part time Valverde and possibly Lucas. Hazard by the way has surprised in 2 NT games last week and may contribute to the shortage of forwards.

But what about injuries? They can’t survive with what they have. I think it comes down to

1. Play primarily a 4-4-2 formation or
2. Bring back Brahim to play RW alternating with Rodrygo and Hazard and Valverde or
3. Sign a Gnabry.

As to Benz backup, they will either keep Mariano or Mayoral regardless of above.

I don't think Hazard has the pace to play on the wings anymore but he looks good for Belgium when playing more centrally. I can see him having meaningful contributions if he plays as a 10 in a 4231, which is possible with the signing of Tchouaméni. Another option is to play him as a back-up to Benz, he has played as a false 9 before under Conte and Sarri.

Brahim played good for like a month and then went MIA for the rest of the season after having covid, I'm not too high on bringing him back.

Gnabry is a decent option but he seems to be asking a lot of money despite coming off of a poor season (understandably since he's turning 27).

I think that going into the season like this and signing someone in January (although risky) might be the approach. Vini will hopefully have his passport so we can sign non-EU players and Perez likes a marquee WC signing.

| Asensio’s case is similar to that of Varane last summer, but with Asensio the preference for a sale is much clearer. @MarioCortegana

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) June 23, 2022

Interesting that he is turning down Liverpool because he feels with all the attacking options they have, his playing time will be very limited! It really the same case at Madrid. He’s definitely on the move, but I’m concerned he is favoring Italian teams. They never seem to have money and are always after loan deals!

Surprise! At least to me. Sounds like Odriozola is returning and making squad. It does offer more backup for Carvajal.

In other news, Gutierrez (who apparently is more in favor than Fran Garcia, since Rayo want 10m for him, previously was 5m) is likely bound to go to another liga team and Vallejo seems to be staying. That would leave defense numbers at 8, plus Odriozola, which easily fits within squad numbers.

If these rumors turn out to be true, the only business left is 1 sale of Asensio and Jovic, 2. Purchase of Gnabry and 3. Ceballos decision of staying or going.

We won't be buying Gnabry. We don't have any space in our non EU passport quota

Hala, Gnabry is a German citizen, doesn’t need an Eu exemption slot. I think you must be thinking of Jesus for which the Non EU spot would be needed. Everything I have been hearing is that once Jovic (report this morning saying loan deal with NO option to buy is being completed today) and Asensio are gone, then the pursuit of Gnabry is on.

You are right I stand corrected. Ineeed I was thinking about Jesus

From the looks of it, Bayern isn't completely opposed to selling him:

Salihamidžić on Gnabry situation: "We really want to keep him. I hope that he chooses Bayern. If a player doesn't want to decide for the club, then we can find a solution that makes everyone happy", tells SkyDe. #FCBayern

Gnabry's current deal expires in June 2023. pic.twitter.com/nFJxhNSCdp

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 23, 2022

Are we really interested? Can't find any reliable sources linking us to him.

I don’t even know who is a reliable source any longer. As to Gnabry both Liverpool and Arsenal have expressed interest. The rumors I have heard supposedly from club is Asensio has to go first, both for a spot on club as well as transfer funds. The interest has been there for almost a month. The only other player that was mentioned was Jesus and like his name sake, it would take devine intervention at passport office for that to happen.

I've started watching some Bellingham clips because of all the rumors and he actually looks a lot like the type of player I wished a while back that Reinier Jesus would become like. Who knows if Reinier can still do it, some real stagnancy with him, in no small part probably because of his weird player profile. If he's a CAM he might as well turn into an attacking b2b interior type of CAM/CM.