Recent reports have suggested that Madrid have officially stamped summer 2020 as a return date to Paris Saint Germain with a bid for their star forward and World Cup winner, Kylian Mbappe.
Asides the Neymar merry-go-round to Barcelona, another of football’s most intriguing and “drama-filled” transfer news is back with a bang, this time with two twists. First is the declaration by Madrid president Florentino Perez that Mbappe is the goal for Madrid’s 2020 summer dealings via Daily Mail. Second is that the club intend to re-integrate her loanees as well as sell a few players in order to fund the move for the €200m rated 20 year old (via FourFourTwo).
The report by FourFourTwo stated that Madrid loanees Martin Odegaard, Achraf Hakimi, Dani Ceballos, Sergio Reguillon and Takefusa Kubo – who are all doing well in their various loan clubs – have caught the eye of those at their parent club. It also states that their reintegration – probably by way of contract renewal and increase in selling price – will be the primary method to finance the purchase of Mbappe.
It also means cutting down on some first team members in order to finance the move.
While the financial aspect is being figured out by Madrid, the technical team need to pay more attention to two young Galactico signings whose chances will be very limited if the Mbappe buy comes through.
A move for Mbappe could hamper the future of Vinicius Junior and/or Rodrygo
Las season, Madrid signed Vinicius Jnr for £38.7m and the young lad went on to have a season, while devoid of the goals and assists but one that fans of the club thoroughly enjoyed and hoped to see more of in the coming future.
This season, Madrid went all out again and signed a few more, including another youngster, Rodrygo Goes, for €45m in the summer. 11 (10 for Madrid, with a game in hand) games into the season, Rodrygo has only made one start for Los Blancos in La Liga and one in the Champions League (Transfermarkt), both starts showing the potential of the new signing to be great in the nearest future.
Before the start of the season, Zidane was fussy about the players he wanted. He has now been forced to look for internal solutions to his problems this term, falling back to the old guard of Madrid. Vinicius, who was promising last term, has not seen much action because of fitness and tactical issues, and Rodrygo has begun to rise in the pecking order for the club.
Reports have stated that Zidane has been impressed by Rodrygo in training and when he has played, he has shown the fans of the club why Zidane has had him in almost all his matchday squads this season.
Despite the high price of Rodrygo’s transfer, the teenager has shown his zeal, humility and willingness to play for the team. He was behind Lucas Vazquez, Brahim Diaz and Vinicius Jr but is now looking to usurp them in Madrid’s pecking order.
Meanwhile, Vinicius Jr., whose courage won the hearts of many Madrid fans as he started almost every game last season when fit, has fallen from grace at the club. His quality is still there, but Madrid and Zidane’s obsession with Galacticos seems to be hurting his development.
Not only has he suffered fitness issues this season, but he has also been left out of many match-day squads with no justification to the media and fans of the club, who know that regular game time will help the improvement of their favourite prodigy.
His flaws, from inaccurate final passes, poor decision-making, and his lack of composure in front of goal, can be worked on in training but will only come full circle if he is played.
And with the news of Mbappe looming and hanging over these youngsters’ heads, Madrid fans look set to lose out on two talents who could become very important for the club if paid adequate attention to.
Mbappe, just a year older than both of them, had a blistering start to his career and has become a World Champion at the age of 20. A generational talent like him will be hard to resist. However, a club should focus on the development of their talents just as much as they focus on winning. The plan to reintegrate promising players and (probably) sell them off, as well as the looming ostracization of young talents within the club may or may not haunt them in the future, but will definitely put a stain on their immaculate white.
Rodrygo and Vinicius are generational talents who need all the guidance they can get. Unfortunately, Madrid could be responsible for their fall from grace before their careers even kick-off, with this absurd obsession over Mbappe.
