Real Madrid: Raúl de Tomás set to return after an impressive loan stint with Rayo Vallecano
By Ben Sundock
Real Madrid youth academy product, Raúl de Tomás, has spent the last three seasons on loan at three different clubs across Spain trying to work on his craft. This season with Segunda División side Rayo Vallecano, de Tomás has shown that he is ready to receive minutes with Los Blancos.
Real Madrid loanee Raúl de Tomás will have some high expectations when he returns to the Spanish capital this summer. The striker has struggled to break into the first-team squad and his chance has finally come.
With current backup striker Borja Mayoral voicing his desire to leave Los Blancos in the upcoming transfer window, 23-year-old de Tomás could be the next guy up.
While on loan this season in the Segunda División, Raúl has propelled Rayo Vallecano to the top of the league and into a potential promotion spot. Sitting five points clear of third place Sporting Gijón, Rayo is likely to be back in La Liga for the 2018/2019 season.
The club has the Real loanee to thank for all the success this season. In 30 league appearances, the Spanish international has scored a stunning 24 goal which makes up 36 percent of the goals the club has scored in the league (66 total).
To go along with his 24 goals, the up and coming striker has been awarded the player of the month award twice in both February and April, and has registered the most hat-tricks of any player in the league with three (all three of which have come in 2018).
de Tomás sits second in the league in goals only behind Valladolid striker, Jaime Mata, who is five in front. With three assists to go along with his impressive goal scoring mark, Raúl is showing his parent club he has grown exponentially since first going out on loan two years ago.
Each of the three years he has been loaned out since the 2015/2016 season, the striker has improved. On his first loan stint with Córdoba, he scored just six goals in 26 appearances.
The following season, he scored 14 goals in 36 appearances with Valladolid.
The only reason to have doubt is due to all of de Tomás’ loan spells taking place in the second division. The competition in the Seguna Divisioón is of course nowhere near the same level as La Liga.
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From what I’ve seen from his highlights, Raúl seems to have a lot of strengths that can carry over in the top flight. His free-kick accuracy, his awareness in the box, and raw finishing ability are all things that manager Zinedine Zidane could use to his advantage.
While Borja is not a terrible player, he doesn’t possess the same raw goalscoring talent de Tomás has.
The future is very bright for Raúl de Tomás and Real Madrid fans should be very excited to see this youngster return to the Bernabéu ahead of the 2018/2019 season.