Young Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Garcia is reportedly not in the club's future plans and is a planned sale in the upcoming summer transfer market. Apparently, Los Blancos are under the impression that only one of Garcia or Endrick can be in the first team next season, and Real will be choosing the Brazilian phenom over the Spanish youth international.
But watching Real Madrid against Bayern Munich really drove home how much Los Blancos are missing that big, physical No. 9 with a central presence. Garcia has brought goals, particularly with his head, when he has started, and whlie his athletic and technical profile are admittedly below that of the best young players Real Madrid usually carry, there is this X-Factor about him with his fluidity, positioning, and finishing.
Real Madrid left goals on the table against Die Roten on Wednesday night in their decisive Champions Leauge blow, including two sitters in the six yard box that player like Garcia would have put away. The wide game and the play of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior are suffering without that sort of a focal point.
Real Madrid need a No. 9 profile
Xabi Alonso honestly got a lot wrong in his few months as Real Madrid manager, hence why the club gave up on him so abruptly. But integrating Gonzalo Garcia into the XI, even as he excluded Endrick in an unrelated sense, was one of the few big moves that the former Bayer Leverkusen manager got very right.
And it is a shame that Real Madrid want to undo that by getting rid of Garcia entirely with a permanent transfer out this summer. Even if Garcia does not quite have the quality of a regular Real Madrid starter, he is good enough to be a backup striker. Real Madrid have carried far worse backup strikers for years like Mariano Diaz and Luka Jovic at a time when they already had a world-class pure No. 9 in Karim Benzema - and right now the 9 in Madrid is Kylian Mbappe, who is clearly not the profile of a 9.
The debacle over two legs against Bayern Munich should be a wake up call to Real Madrid that a profile like Garcia's is necessary, and if Real Madrid want to move on from the young Spaniard, then perhaps they should find a new player with that profile first. Joselu was such a difference the last time Real Madrid beat Bayern in the Champions League, and that point was only driven home this week.
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