Real Madrid: Grading each summer signing before Champions League knockouts

Real Madrid are weeks away from their first Champions League knockout round match against Manchester City, and now is a good time to review the performances of the summer signings thus far.

We find ourselves past the halfway point of the season as Real Madrid find themselves in first place in La Liga (three points away from second) while they are also preparing to take on Manchester City in the next round of the UEFA Champions League. The only negative is that they have been knocked out of the Copa del Rey after losing 4-3 to Real Sociedad.

Zinedine Zidane’s return to the team has given them newfound belief while practically everyone has improved from how they were last season. In a summer where many changes were expected to be made, the manager only made a few that he felt were necessary and let the rest of the changes happen in training. Let’s take a look at how his new signings have done so far.

Eder Militao – B

Eder Militao was Zinedine Zidane‘s first signing since his return. Real Madrid purchased the Brazilian defender for 50 million Euros after his impressive performances with FC Porto during the season.

Real Madrid needed a defender and they were able to find everything they needed in the 22-year-old Brazilian who has impressed since his arrival. Zidane made sure to slowly integrate him into the team and slowly got him used to his new surroundings before he finally got a chance to play an official game with the squad. Militao made his official debut on September 15 against Levante and since then the defender has only improved after a shaky start to his Los Merengues career.

It’s already extremely clear that Militao will have a successful career at Real Madrid and even though he isn’t a first-choice center back as of yet, he can develop into one within the next couple season. He has already proven that he can do the job whenever called upon and as he gains more experience, he’ll surely be one of the first names on the lineup soon.

Rodrygo Goes – B-

Rodrygo Goes was signed in the summer of 2018 before officially joining the squad last summer. He was initially with Real Madrid Castilla before Zidane decided to bring him up to the first team where he has had a lot of success. Rodrygo started off quite strongly and was on the path of making the right flank his own after his competitors in the team such as Lucas Vazquez and Gareth Bale failed to hit the heights expected of them. As time went on, his form slowly went down but he has always been able to create chances out of nothing.

As a young prospect, Rodrygo already has the trust of the team and the manager while he has qualities that make him a lot better than many other players at his age. The Brazilian is part of the new project by Florentino Perez where he is on the path of signing some of the biggest prospects in world football which started with Vinicius Junior and now has the most recent signing in Reinier Jesus.