Will Real Madrid sell Mariano Diaz in the winter?

Mariano Diaz wants to do everything to prove himself at Real Madrid, but it may take some work to prove to upper management that he has a place in the team.

This summer, Real Madrid spent 305 million euros on the transfer market, most of which was used to add more attacking talent. Luka Jovic joined Real after banging home goals at a regular pace in the Bundesliga, becoming Karim Benzema’s backup option. And Real also sealed the signings of Eden Hazard and Rodrygo Goes, with the latter figuring to be a critical part of Madrid’s attack in a few years.

That leaves Mariano Diaz in a precarious position. Mariano arrived in Real last summer with plenty of fanfare leading into his second stint with the La Liga powerhouse. The prior season, Mariano scored 18 goals for Lyon as one of Europe’s most prolific young scorers, so expectations were high.

However, Zinedine Zidane is now in charge, and there’s a more negative outlook surrounding the talented Dominican forward. Mariano was among the attackers Zidane tried to sell this summer, including near the deadline, but the 26-year-old honorably rejected overtures from solid Ligue 1 and Serie A teams out of a desire to prove himself at Real.

Despite these rejections and his clear intention to stay, Mariano could still be on the way out in a matter of months. Calciomercato.com reports that Mariano could be sold during the winter transfer session, as upper management reportedly still doesn’t see a place in the side for the former 20-goal scorer.

It’s an unfortunate situation for Mariano, though it is true that he could re-emerge as one of Europe’s best scorers somewhere else. But that raises an interesting question. If Real were so enticed by Mariano’s qualities at Lyon that they purchased him for over 20 million euros for a second stint with the club, why have they so quickly soured on him? Mariano was far from the only player who disappointed in 2018-2019, so shouldn’t he get a clean slate?

The issue, of course, is that Real’s attack is far more crowded this season with Rodrygo in the fold and Jovic signed. Mariano is third in the pecking order behind Karim Benzema and Jovic, meaning the only chance he’ll get to play is if something were to happen to Benzema.

On some level, it’s probably best for Mariano’s career if he gets regularly playing time in his prime and proves to other top clubs in Europe that he can be a prolific scorer, because that opportunity may not be there with Zidane’s Real Madrid.

But there’s still a chance. Mariano has a few months to audition, however sparingly he plays, and show that Real should not send him elsewhere. Then again, it could merely be an audition for clubs bigger than even AS Roma or AC Milan.

Whatever the case, Mariano’s situation remains one of the most interesting among the many talented backups on Real’s roster, especially now that there are rumors the team would still like to offload him in the winter.