Every year we expect Real Madrid to be very active during the transfer window, and even more so if the club had a bad season.
There are three months to go before the summer transfer window opens officially, and the team has to still play a lot of football before the season ends. So we can’t really predict what will be the club’s approach this summer at the moment.
But one thing is for sure, there will be some departures this season. With three players running out of contract and a handful of players struggling to live up to the Real Madrid standard, I feel that there will be sales and signings this summer, in spite of MARCA reporting that there won’t be any revolution at the club this summer.
Since there might be a lot of departures this summer, let us have a look at the perfect replacement for each player who’s expected to leave.
Marcelo – Miguel Gutierrez
Real Madrid’s captain Marcelo’s contract is coming to an end this summer, and he will leave the club after a highly successful career at Los Blancos. He hasn’t been the club’s main left-back and has mostly been a backup to Ferland Mendy in the last three seasons. So the club needs to replace him with a player who’s ready to be a second-choice player.
The club doesn’t need to look anywhere else for that player, as they already have one in Castilla’s Miguel Gutierrez. The 20-year-old is exactly the kind of full-back Real Madrid need, being an attack-minded player who can make a difference with his superb crossing and passing skills. He has already proved himself in the limited opportunities he got with the first team.
Carlo Ancelotti hasn’t really trusted the La Fabrica product this season, giving him just 321 minutes, and even Miguel has struggled with his own physical issues, but the Italian manager should count on him next season. If not him, then the club should try Rayo Vallecano’s Fran Garcia, who can come for as low as €5 million.
Gareth Bale – Kylian Mbappe
Gareth Bale is going to leave the club this summer for sure, as his contract is finally expiring this year and both he and the club don’t have any interest in renewing.
If we see Gareth Bale as a left-footed goalscoring right-winger who can be decisive in the big games, then the best like-for-like replacement for the Welshman is Mohammed Salah of Liverpool. The Egyptian’s contract is expiring next year, and many top clubs might be keeping tabs on his situation. But it is difficult to imagine Liverpool letting go of Salah, despite playing hardball in the contract renewal talks.
If we instead see Gareth Bale as a goalscoring winger who can be a huge threat from both the wings and can be among the best players on the planet on his day, then the perfect replacement is Kylian Mbappe. He’s expected to sign for Real Madrid as a free agent this summer, despite PSG’s numerous attempts to renew the Frenchman. And after seeing our club’s pursuit of Mbappe all these years, I don’t think we need to discuss why Mbappe is the best option out there.
Isco – Florian Wirtz
Isco’s Real Madrid career has been a fairly disappointing one, though he has won a lot of trophies at the club. He was expected to be the future of Real Madrid in 2018, but he’s only going to leave the club as a free agent this summer, after a disappointing last three years at the club.
There is a very good replacement for Isco in Real Madrid’s academy, in the form of the highly talented Sergio Arribas. But we are talking about the perfect replacement here, and the only player that comes to my mind is Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, who’s having a fantastic season in Bundesliga.
He has 10 goals and 13 assists in 2035 minutes for Leverkusen in all competitions this season and has been an excellent attacking midfielder with a well-rounded skill-set and a touch of directness to his game, giving us every reason to see him as a potential Real Madrid transfer target. Given his high price tag, he’s not a practical option, but as I’ve mentioned above, he’s the perfect option to replace Isco.
Eden Hazard – Bernardo Silva
Ever since his ankle injury suffered against PSG in November 2019, a lot of things have gone wrong for Eden Hazard, and his situation is reaching a stage where a departure this summer might be the best option for him and the club.
If the current No. 7 leaves the Spanish capital this summer, then Kylian Mbappe might take the number vacated by him and can be seen as Hazard’s replacement. But Hazard has never been an out-and-out goalscorer in his career and has mostly been a versatile creative player. If we are looking for a player of that profile, then Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva might be the best option, and he has also been linked to the club in recent days.
My colleague Kevin has rated him as the best player to sign from the Premier League, and looking at his wonderful career at City, one can’t doubt Silva’s quality. Given his versatility and hardworking nature, he can be a perfect fit for Real Madrid, though his signing might sound a bit unrealistic.
Jesus Vallejo – Rafa Marin
Jesus Vallejo returned to the club last summer after his disappointing loan spell at Granada, and the club chose to retain him only because they were saving for Kylian Mbappe, and couldn’t afford to sign a new defender to replace Raphael Varane. He’s the club’s fourth-choice center-back, but he hasn’t been able to get a lot of minutes this season. We can also expect the club to look forward to selling him this season.
It is very difficult to sign a player as the fourth-choice defender, and Nacho is too good to be demoted from third-choice to fourth-choice. It might be better for the club to promote one of their best talents in Castilla to the first team, like Rafa Marin. The tall and quick Spaniard has been a revelation for Raul’s side in his first season as a Castilla regular. AS have reported this season that Carlo Ancelotti has been impressed by the 19-year-old defender, which is surely a great sign for Marin’s Real Madrid future.
Luka Jovic – Raul De Tomas
Luka Jovic has struggled a lot in his Real Madrid career, and it’s safe to say that the club might be looking to sell him this summer. It might be an absence of luck, intent or chemistry, but he simply hasn’t been able to prove himself at the club, and he needs to leave the club for his own welfare.
The club has been linked heavily with Erling Haaland, but I don’t think Haaland will come to Real Madrid as long as Benzema’s the first-choice striker. The ideal second-choice striker for the club should be someone like Espanyol’s Raul De Tomas, another La Fabrica graduate.
The Spaniard has scored 13 goals for the Catalan club so far this season, and he is one of the most underrated players in LaLiga. He won’t cost a lot, but he’s already 27, and I don’t know if a player of that age would be willing to accept a second-choice role, though RDT, as written on his jersey, has mentioned in an interview with AS that he does dream of succeeding at Real Madrid. But the club should look to sign a good striker like him, especially when Benzema’s workload isn’t being managed properly and his risk of injury is increasing every week.
There’s another option in Borja Mayoral, but I think De Tomas can be a better fit and Borja Mayoral hasn’t yet reached that level, despite having a good 2020/21 season at Roma and a good start to life at Getafe this season.
Dani Ceballos – Aurelien Tchouameni
There were a lot of expectations on Dani Ceballos when he signed for the club back in 2017, but five years have passed, and he hasn’t been able to prove himself yet. At the moment, he looks like a player surplus to Real Madrid’s requirements, and a move away from the club this summer looks inevitable.
Midfield is Real Madrid’s best department, with a mixture of experienced players who are among the greatest of all time, and world-class young talents. If there’s anything missing, it’s only a proper backup defensive midfielder. Antonio Blanco looked like a player destined to be the club’s future, but he would want to forget this season, with little to zero chances with the first team.
If the club even thinks of signing a midfielder to fill in the spot vacated by the Andalusian Ceballos, Aurelien Tchouameni should be the best option. The Frenchman has been linked to the club for a while, and he is a player who has the potential to become one of the best midfielders in the future. His price tag would be the only issue, as he’s expected to cost around 60-80 million, which is something the club must be wary of.
Mariano Diaz – No one
Real Madrid shouldn’t look to replace Mariano because, well, he is simply irreplaceable.
Jokes apart, I have always felt that Mariano has always been a player who’s surplus to the team’s needs, especially since the day Luka Jovic was signed by the club. There is no need to have a third-choice striker at the club, and it is only because of the club’s inability to sell him and the 28-year-old’s stubbornness that he’s still at the club.
If at all there is an emergency where the club’s both strikers are injured, the manager can look to use Kylian Mbappe as a CF, similar to how Cristiano Ronaldo was occasionally used as the lone striker, or rely on a Castilla striker like Juanmi Latasa.