Asensio is on the verge of joining PSG with Villa having already offered Ceballos may or may not resign and has offers in both Spain and England Nacho may also leave with Inter being a possible landing spot Lunin appears to be moving on too in search of regular minutes Mariano’s contract is up and wasn’t renewed (thank god) so he’s gone too All signs point to Joselu having been/will be signed on loan to be his replacement Kroos and Modric have already signed 1 year deals and are waiting for them to be announced Fran Garcia has signed and is returning which is important for LB depth because… Mendy is unofficially being shopped and the club would sell if the right number were offered They already needed a legit backup/compliment striker and if Benzema does leave that definitely changes the equation and may very well make someone like Kane or Lautaro more realistic this summer whereas they probably would have gone with a much cheaper stopgap option like Firmino for a year while waiting for Mbappe again next year.
sad to see these two go an absolute club legend and one of the very best players of his generation one of the better pure goal scorers during his tenure and a great representative of the club
a ton of work to be done rehauling this roster so good to see this getting done right out of the gate
This is smart for no other reason other than depth as unless something wild happens with Davies it’s sounding like Fran might be the only FB addition with Odriozola almost certainly departing
I’m a little behind because I live an exciting and fast paced lifestyle but Luka running it back for 1 more too. Also Nacho agreed to another 1 year extension and Ceballos resigned until ‘27. Joselu signed a 1 year loan deal to fill the Mariano roll
this was widely rumored but a bit odd to see it confirmed a full 12 months early either way no excuse for fucking up the next hire
don’t know that anyone had this on the radar like 2 weeks ago but another of the top young talents added to the midfield collection
every indication is that he’ll stick with the first team can’t see him getting many minutes though outside of maybe the early CdR rounds
add Valverde, Ceballos & Brahim to that pool too though a lot will depend on a certain Frenchman’s status and what that does to the formation. If Rodrygo is instead played as the 9 that opens up a lot of minutes on the right wing for the latter two.
its only the preseason so try not to take too much from any of this but Jude will probably win 2 or 3 Balon d'Ors conservatively
I know its just the preseason but I've seen more than enough of this diamond midfield also the backline is dogshit
and to the surprise of no one it comes from Vini being pushed out wide left where he's able to run in to space/at goal the two man front just isnt it
Hopefully like you said this is just some preseason experimental stuff. The talent is showing major flashes but the tactical side is shit.
I think this formation is likely what we're to see unless an actual #9 is brought in over the next 4 weeks
Yeah, it’s either splurging for a proper 9, Joselu is a starter and your MF depth gets insanely underutilized, or you run this diamond and hope that Bellingham somehow fills Benzema’s shoes. If you’re going the Bellingham route, though, may as well just post him up top full time and not be box to box. The post-game write ups from the Barça game of “we just need to run Vini out wide like the last 30 minutes and we’re all set” were hilarious given that it just so happened to coincide with Dest getting thrown out there. Like, I may as give it a go at that point.
essentially though it also depends on the midfield 3 behind JB because Kroos and Modric simply dont have the motors anymore hopefully a certain #9 makes his move over and this is all a moot point
Was in the process of asking how much is going to be expected of those two this year. One massive thing in your favor is Valverde’s flexibility. Can tinker around and plug him in wherever knowing full well that he’s going to get shit done no matter where he’s at. If nothing comes in at the 9, it might honestly be worthwhile to continue with Valverde at RW (even though I believe he’s the best DM you’ve got). Let Vini continue playing to his obvious strength wide left, figure out if Bellingham can adapt in a false 9 role (and don’t have him tracking so far back so that Vini isn’t crossing to nothing). Rodrygo’s best spot is as a super sub
nobody really knows for sure, depends on the formation and how many spots/minutes there are to go around but I'd expect Carlo still starts at least 1 (probably Kroos) in big games if that certain someone isn't brought in this summer I'd like to see them keep Valverde on the right wing and try both Rodrygo and Joselu in the middle of the 4-3-3 with Bellingham slightly more advanced in front of whatever midfield du jour is selected
no clue Bono and Mamardashvili are names being thrown around but neither will be “cheap” and Sevilla and Valencia aren’t exactly friendly with Real which would further complicate things a FA like DDG or a 1 year loan makes the most sense financially which is why it’s highly likely that’s what we see
no clue if this formation is gonna work but excited to see the youth movement in full effect LFG #Real Madrid