Real Madrid made the right decision to turn down Dusan Vlahovic this winter

Real Madrid, every season, are looking at top prospects in every position. They’re aware of the need to acquire young talent to build for the future, and one name that was popping up way more than usual – and rightly so – was that of Dusan Vlahovic.

The Serbian striker was one of the most sought-after players in world football after making his mark for Fiorentina, scoring 17 goals in 21 league appearances for the club this season. It’s a fantastic record, which put him in the top bracket of strikers in world football based on form.

But, as we know, Real Madrid didn’t buy Vlahovic. The Serbian joined Juventus instead, for 75 million euros, in January. It’s a good move, and the player has already scored a goal in his first appearance for the club.

But, here’s the thing, even though we didn’t really see Real Madrid’s name popping up in major news sources this winter for Vlahovic’s signing, it doesn’t mean that they weren’t offered his services by Fiorentina.

Real Madrid didn’t sign Vlahovic because they wanted to wait for Kylian Mbappe

According to Cardena SER, Real Madrid actually were offered Vlahovic in the winter. Fiorentina phoned Real Madrid and were looking to sell him to the Spanish club in the hopes of getting a higher transfer fee than what Juventus were offering them. Coupled with the fact that they didn’t want to give away their star to a rival team, it made sense for Fiorentina to make that phone call.

Real Madrid, however, turned them down. They weren’t interested in signing Vlahovic because of one reason and one reason only: They wanted Kylian Mbappe in the summer. They wanted to wait for Mbappe, and were happy with having limited goalscorers in the squad for now.

They did the same thing with Cristiano Ronaldo last summer. They turned him down because they actually wanted Mbappe, but they also wanted to show the Frenchman that they only want him.

Here’s where it gets a little tricky, though. In the same report, it says that Real Madrid also said no because they didn’t want four players fighting for the same spots. Karim Benzema, Vinicius Jr., Kylian Mbappe, and Dusan Vlahovic, should he arrive, would be playing in essentially the same positions, and the club didn’t want that.

The thing is though, we already know that Real Madrid would be looking to sign Erling Haaland in the summer, at least according to a few sources. Even though they’d prefer signing him in the summer of 2023 if it’s an option, they’re definitely interested, and they will certainly try, which will result in them arriving at the same problem.

I guess that with this sort of situation, it’s based on how Real Madrid rate the two players in question. They think that having a rotation like that with Haaland on a short-term basis is worth it for the long-term planning. With Vlahovic, that’s not the case, clearly.

There’s absolutely no doubt that Vlahovic is a fantastic player, but I just think Real Madrid prefer getting Mbappe in the summer and at least trying for Haaland over signing Vlahovic. As good as he is, I doubt he’s as good as Haaland. Fair enough, I’d say.