Real Madrid: The 5 most improved players of the season

ST Borja Mayoral

Let’s talk about the loanee included in this list of five. Borja Mayoral received some praise from Zinedine Zidane this summer and even scored himself a couple of appearances off the bench for Los Blancos early in the season prior to his move to Roma. According to Mayoral himself, Zidane actually preferred the long-time Real prospect to 60 million euro acquisition Luka Jovic, who was later loaned to Eintracht Frankfurt this winter.

Mayoral has outperformed every Real Madrid striker other than Karim Benzema this season, essentially proving Zidane’s reported intrigue in the former Wolfsburg man correct. He’s seemingly broken out of nowhere with 15 goals and 4 assists in all competitions for AS Roma. You could even make the case that he is outplaying long-time Roma standout – and an even more successful former Wolfsburg marksman – Edin Dzeko.

Although Mayoral will almost certainly secure a permanent move to Roma, he merits placement on this list. Mayoral went from being a decent player at Levante to a double-digit goal-scorer and one of the better strikers in Serie A. Roma have advanced to the semifinals of the Europa League against Manchester United, and Mayoral’s 7 goals in 643 minutes in the competition have certainly played a role in their success.