Real Madrid: Could Oscar Rodriguez have a future with the first team?

Oscar Rodriguez is coming off the best season of his young career, but it will be an uphill battle for him to become a first-team player for Real Madrid.

Martin Odegaard, Achraf Hakimi, and Sergio Reguilon stole most of the headlines as Real Madrid loanees in the 2019-2020 season, establishing themselves as among the best players at their positions in European football. But quietly, Oscar Rodriguez also had an incredibly impressive campaign, doing his best to keep Leganes afloat in La Liga.

Ultimately, Leganes were relegated, but Oscar’s fate as a first-team player in La Liga has been sealed. Despite having very little talent around him, Oscar was a major threat for his team, scoring nine goals with two assists in La Liga to lead his team. Oscar could score goals from absolutely nothing, earning plaudits as the league’s best free-kick taker, rivaling Lionel Messi.

Despite his highly successful 2019-2020 season, Oscar will find it difficult to make it at Real Madrid. There’s just no space for him as an attacking midfielder. Real weren’t even expected to bring back Odegaard from his even more impressive loan spell at a bigger club in Real Sociedad, but after the loss to Manchester City in the Champions League, Zinedine Zidane knew he had no choice; he needed Odegaard.

Calling up Odegaard adds to the crowd in the attacking midfield, which includes experienced star Isco. Oscar has no chance of playing ahead of either player, and even though he can play on the right, Real could use Isco and Marco Asensio in that right-sided attacking midfield role.

Real Madrid will most likely sell Oscar Rodriguez

So Oscar will most likely leave the club on a transfer. Villarreal have been hot on his heels, but that could change after the club acquired another highly impressive attacking midfield loanee from Real Madrid, Takefusa Kubo.

There will be other teams who want Oscar, though. Another loan deal is unlikely, because the 22-year-old needs to be able to settle in somewhere and be their star. The time for loans is over; Oscar cannot wait forever, especially since he knows Real Madrid already have two long-term attacking midfielders in Odegaard and Kubo that they like even more.

That said, Real don’t like missing out on great young players they’ve developed, so they are going to add a customary buy-back clause to any Oscar sale. And that means Oscar could, one day, play his way back to Real Madrid.

He can do it. Last season, he showed he is capable of scoring goals in bunches. He has the technical quality to make an impact at Real one day. However, he must play to a high standard, because Odegaard and Kubo set a high standard. As does Isco, who showed a return to form in 2020 when given a chance. (Recall his two assists against Leganes in the final game of the season.)

Oscar will be compared to Real Madrid’s best and brightest, but he is no slouch himself, as the Leganes faithful witnessed week after week at the Butarque. He was one of La Liga’s best at making magic happen, and the goal output is no fluke. Oscar is a human highlight reel who could hit another level at a bigger La Liga club. Real must keep him in mind, and a buy-back clause is the right way to keep their options open.