Real Madrid right winger Gareth Bale will most likely be on the outs this summer, but Los Blancos have some young players who can provide far more production.
Gareth Bale will undoubtedly leave Real Madrid as a club legend with a legacy that includes four Champions League titles, a bicycle kick in a Champions League Final, and a legendary goal to literally win the Copa del Rey. He more than met up to the high expectations and record-breaking price tag when he joined Real from Tottenham, and it’s sad it has to end this way,
However, Bale wasn’t productive last season at all despite receiving multiple chances from Zinedine Zidane. The 30-year-old needs a change of scenery this summer, and while there will be barriers, specifically his massive wages, to a transfer, Los Merengues will prioritize his sale.
The matter of replacing Bale’s production will be interesting. Real Madrid have been linked to a number of wide forwards who could start across from 2019 summer transfer window acquisition Eden Hazard. Liverpool’s Sadio Mane is among them, and RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner could play as a right winger if Real Madrid want to keep Karim Benzema in the starting lineup regularly.
But if Real can’t sign a new forward in this market, they have three players who are more than capable of replacing Bale’s production – and exceeding it. And it’s the “exceeding” that matters here, since bettering Bale’s anemic 2019-2020 production is hardly a high bar.
The first of those players is Rodrygo Goes. He scored a perfect hat trick against Galatasaray in the Champions League, scored the second-fastest debut goal in Real Madrid history, and had some genuinely encouraging performances before cooling off and shifting back to Castilla.
Zidane will continue to be patient with Rodrygo, so the teenager’s chances of being a star and regular starter in 2020-2021 are slim. But if forced to start regularly, he can capture magic.
The second player to watch is Achraf Hakimi. There’s no guarantee he will return to the Santiago Bernabeu next season due to continued interest from Borussia Dortmund in keeping him, as well as strong interest from the likes of Juventus, PSG, and Bayern Munich. In all likelihood, Hakimi will stay, but his concern is regular playing time on a team where Dani Carvajal has been a constant at the right back position.
However, Hakimi showed world-class potential at left and right wing while at Borussia Dortmund, so if Zidane can convince him that he’d get playing time there, too, perhaps he’d be more likely to stay. And perhaps he could flourish as something of a Bale replacement.
Finally, Marco Asensio can play on the right side as a wide attacking midfielder, which is a role Isco has flourished in. Especially since he’s coming off an ACL tear, there will be concerns about Asensio’s explosiveness in a wide role.
There will, however, be absolutely no questions about his technical quality, tactical awareness, creativity, and goal-scoring potential. With his rocket of a left foot, Asensio could score buckets of goals in that position, and he still has the potential to be a huge star in La Liga.
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