It’s official, Mariano Diaz has returned to Real Madrid!
By Ben Sundock
After just a year with Olympique Lyonnais in France, Real Madrid has exercised their buyback clause on striker Mariano Diaz. Here are the details of the deal and what it means for the club moving forward.
Finally Madridistas! Our prayers for depth at the striker position have at last been answered by President Florentino Perez. With Sevilla lurking in the shadows trying to snatch Mariano from Lyon, Los Blancos elected to bring back the budding playmaker nearly 14 months after his departure.
The club broke the news Wednesday afternoon with the following statement:
"“Real Madrid C.F. and Olympique Lyonnais have agreed a deal for the player Mariano, who will be with the Whites for the next five seasons. The player will be presented on Thursday 31st August, at 1:30pm CEST in the Santiago Bernabéu presidential box. Mariano will then take to the Santiago Bernabéu pitch wearing the Real Madrid C. F. kit. He will then speak to the press in the press room.”"
Mariano played just one season with the first-team during the La Liga winning campaign where he struggled to get minutes as he was down the pecking order behind both Karim Benzema and Álvaro Morata.
After moving to the Ligue 1, everyone started to take notice of what this player is capable as he received regular minutes under manager Bruno Génésio. In 30 starts and 34 total league appearances, Mariano scored 18 goals, had four assists, and averaged a 7.15 match rating.
Real Madrid lost money on this deal, of course, as they sold him for €8 million and bought him back for €21.50 million. But, this is still a great move by Perez that I am sure was influenced by manager Julen Loperetgui.
Benzema needs a reliable backup and Borja Mayoral was simply not good enough to fill that spot. Mariano certainly can. Whatsmore, he can start if Karim needs a night off or if he picks up a knock.
As we saw with Lyon, the more he plays, the better he does. Just check out some of his best goals.
He will have plenty of time to work his way back into the lineup and get up to speed with the new boss as he will be introduced tomorrow afternoon and will begin training with the team tomorrow as well.
After Real’s match against Leganes on Saturday, the players will be off for two weeks for an international break, but Mariano Diaz will more than likely stay at the Valadebebas and get some extra work in with the coaching staff and his teammates.
Next. Real Madrid will monitor Raheem Sterling this coming season. dark
Mariano is an exciting player at 25-years-old who seems to be finding his form. The fact that he played with almost all the players who are still on the team makes it even easier for him to transition in.
Lopetegui has voiced his pleasure with the way Diaz plays and was quick to tell the press he would be happy to have him at his disposal. I think every party involved in this deal is incredibly happy.