Although most of the attention has been on the superstar names around Real Madrid this summer transfer window, whether it be potential incomings like Rodri and Michael Olise or even possible high profile outgoings like Vinicius Junior and Fede Valverde, a lot of the big maneuvering has been in shoring up the depth of the squad's spine or moving around pieces of the future.
Real Madrid's first big decision was to sell Serie A breakout star Nico Paz to his current club Como permanently with a bigger buy back clause in take it or leave it style next season, and most recently, they sold Gonzalo Garcia to Fulham for a little less money - but also less future control over the future Spanish national team No. 9.
Next up, Real Madrid have to settle the future of Franco Mastantuono, the high priced, approximately 60 million euro transfer from River Plate last summer. Xabi Alonso, Juni Calafat, and pretty much the entire world were smitten with the Argentinian playmaker, and while he had a difficult season in terms of both quality and attitude that had Madridistas wondering how Jose Mourinho would receive him, the Portuguese manager almost immediately took a liking to him in the preseason.
Franco Mastantuono has a big opportunity on the horizon
It's just that Mastantuono is too good to rot on the bench and won't have a role at Real Madrid with Arda Guler manning the No. 10 as Mou's next Mesut Ozil in a stacked Madrid midfield that is set to add both Rodri and Bernardo Silva from Manchester City, while Yan Diomande is coming into be the right winger - and with Rodrygo Goes coming back and Brahim Diaz most likely staying, Mastantuono has no place even in a position that is his second best.
Although Mastantuono wanted to go back to River Plate, that is clearly a bad idea for his development, and two historic Serie A sides look like favorites for the 18 year old sensation: Fiorentina and Roma.
Over the past two seasons, Nico Paz emerged as the best player in Serie A for small Como, carrying them to the Champions League as the center piece of the great Cesc Fabregas experiment. Roma have turned into quite the intriguing team under Gian Piero Gasperini, with former Aston Villa and Dortmund star Donyell Malen breaking out - and Mastantuono could be their Paulo Dybala and find even greater success than Matias Soule did from Juventus. Or he could waltz into Florence and be their best player from the get go, saving a team that nearly got relegated last season.
Either way, Mastantuono is an even bigger talent than Paz in terms of technique and attacking creativity, even if he is not the same profile of an all around midfielder. Real Madrid are seeing that Serie A is a great place for young midfielders to shine and develop technically at big clubs that need a boost, and either Roma or Fiorentina could be the perfect environment for him to be an even more lethal attacking and raw, gifted version of what Paz brought to Como.
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