It’s safe to say that Real Madrid‘s decision to loan Reinier Jesus to Borussia Dortmund has not worked out. At all.
After barely being used in the 2020-2021 season, it has been more of the same for the Brazilian in 2021-2022. He has not started a single match in the Bundesliga, playing a total of 54 minutes. An average of nine minutes per appearance. Reinier has one Champions League start but just 128 total minutes in three appearances – half of the group stage games.
He is a clear afterthought for Dortmund. While there was initial optimism that BVB would terminate his loan, that will not be the case. Reinier will stay with the Black and Yellows until the end of his loan upon the conclusion of the current campaign.
And who could blame them? Madridistas should not. Pen was put to paper. Real Madrid agreed to a two-year loan. They told Dortmund Reinier would be their player for two years. And Dortmund have no reason to end that relationship. Sure, he barely plays, but he is free, quality depth. Why give that up for nothing? Real signed a contract, and they must own it.
Real Madrid are the ones to blame for Reinier’s loan flopping
If anyone is to blame, then it is Real Madrid themselves. And they probably know it. They probably know that they must take a harder look at their methods and be more thorough when selecting the loans for players. As Takefusa Kubo’s 2020-2021 season can attest, Los Blancos have not been careful about how they plan the developments of their top talents on loan.
Reinier will get one more chance to prove himself to Real Madrid before they choose to move on from a 30 million euro investment made two winters ago.
There is clear talent in Reinier, who could become a top No. 10 or false nine. Perhaps not with Madrid, but it is not impossible. If he were to be sold, though, Real would want to get something closer to their pre-pandemic investment. Selling him now would yield nothing, which is why a second loan is so important. Reinier must re-boost his value. And he must get a chance to do that.
Real made a bold move in 2020 when they decided to send Reinier on loan to a Champions League team with a lot of attacking midfielders – in another league, no less. For a two-year commitment up-front. That risk has quite clearly not paid off, and it was an optimistic miscalculation on the part of the Whites. Reinier’s situation was not indeed akin to Achraf Hakimi’s – a player who did have a successful two-year loan in Dortmund.
Los Blancos will learn and regroup after their loan mistakes. In the meantime, Dortmund are not to blame, nor does their decision to keep ahold of the 20-year-old change the nature of their friendly relationship with Real. Because Real are mature. They know this is a business and that they made a poor business decision. Nobody can be scapegoated to absolve Real of the reality that they made a mistake here.