Real Madrid: The pros and cons of letting Lucas Vazquez walk

Pro: Losing Lucas Vazquez will hurt now, but it can be important in the long run

In order for teams to get better in the long run, they must sometimes make sacrifices in the short-term and come to tough decisions with veteran players. It appears Real Madrid are in this kind of a situation with Lucas Vazquez. He may be a useful squad player who has a lot of fond memories with the club and the right mentality for Madridista. But he is not irreplaceable. He is not untouchable like a Luka Modric, a Casemiro, or a Karim Benzema.

Therefore, Vazquez is one of the players who can be sacrificed for the greater good of the club. Real Madrid can take a potential hit from some of what Vazquez offers, but they can benefit from using that roster spot and wage space on someone who can be even better than Vazquez in the future. And that might not even be the distant future.

Con: Real Madrid won’t find someone more versatile

I mean, it’s possible, but realistically speaking, Real Madrid aren’t going to find someone who can play at right back and right wing. Vazquez is not especially great at either position, but he’s had some very impressive performances at right back this season and was outplaying Marco Asensio for much of the season on the wing. In the latter case, that’s not hugely impressive when you consider how poorly Asensio played, but the point remains. Vazquez is versatile.

And versatility matters a lot to big clubs, particularly now when injuries and burnout are frequent. I mean, could you imagine the state Real Madrid would be in without Vazquez? Their right back situation would be an outright disaster with Dani Carvajal injured for most of the season and an out-of-his-depth Alvaro Odriozola starting. Vazquez’s ability to play at multiple positions – he can conceivably be a midfielder – would be missed by Los Blancos.