Real Madrid loanee Takefusa Kubo has started just twice in La Liga this season for Villarreal, leading many fans to wonder if his loan spell could end shortly.
The mercurial Unai Emery has urged Takefusa Kubo to fight for his place at Villarreal, and he isn’t exactly giving the Real Madrid loanee much room to fail. In some sense, you cannot fault him for doing so, since Villarreal are in a tight fight for a Champions League slot in La Liga, though you could argue, on the other hand, that similar clubs like Real Sociedad and Borussia Dortmund have been more patient with young loanees.
Regardless, Kubo isn’t getting his minutes and room to grow, and Real Madrid have been considering making a change for some weeks. The rumors continue to swirl, and while it is difficult to terminate a loan and then find a new one in January, things may become easier if Villarreal are indeed willing to move on from Kubo.
Per a recent report from MARCA’s Victor Franch, that seems to be the case at this point. Franch writes that Villarreal have been trying to “reach an agreement” with Real Madrid to terminate Kubo’s loan, with this being a “recent” development.
There are rumblings the Yellow Submarine may want to sign a player at another position this winter to bolster their depth, and terminating Kubo’s loan would clear out squad and wage space. If Kubo isn’t a part of Emery’s plans in the attack, then it may make more sense for the Champions League hopefuls to sign someone who will be instead.
As for Kubo, a next possible destination for the player is Getafe, where he would face less pressure to be perfect and have more room to lead attacks as the clear star player in the attack. Whether or not Getafe can actually sign him remains to be seen, and that all that speculation about “next steps” is really irrelevant until Real Madrid and Villarreal come to an agreement.