€150m worth of talent fading into irrelevance at Real Madrid

Zinedine Zidane has a problem according to Diario AS.

The coach, so used to rotating his Real Madrid charges, has narrowed the number of players he’s been using in recent weeks, with expensive acquisitions suffering from a lack of game-time.

Eder Militao, Alvaro Odriozola, Martin Odegaard and Luka Jovic have barely featured on the pitch in the last few matches, players who cost a combined total of €150m in the transfer market.

None of the four are over 25 and the average age is just 23. They’ve long been considered the future of the club, but for this they need minutes, something they’ve not had this season.

Nacho has overtaken Militao in the pecking order as chief backup to Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane, while Zidane has played Lucas Vazquez at right back instead of Odriozola.

Odegaard has been unable to break into the high-performing trident of Luka Modric, Casemiro and Toni Kroos. Jovic can’t beat Karim Benzema to a starting role, and is even slipping behind Mariano Diaz in the pecking order.

All could still fight back and be important players for Madrid going forward, but things don’t look so good right now for these once highly-touted – and certainly expensive – footballers.

Tags Alvaro Odriozola Eder Militao Luka Jovic Martin Odegaard Real Madrid

5 Comments

  1. Zidane should stop trusting in Benzema always, it is too much. And he must give Luka Jovic and Mariano more minutes as well as Martin Odegaard. Because if these young players are not getting more minutes from now, apart from that the club will keep on relying on one striker and can affect the club in the near future. Now, we don’t have many goal scorers in the team. Benzema has played three games in a row without a goal, assist and not even a shot on target. But Zidane keep trusting him meanwhile Benzema has played full time than Jovic and Mariano Diaz. Benzema full time in 2 or 3 games makes Jovic and Mariano 32 appearances. It can be true. When it is left with some 3 minutes then he ask Jovic or Mariano to come in. Is these 5 minutes and 3 minutes helpful for them to give their best? Noo. How can you compare someone that has played almost every 90 minutes to the other who hardly played 5 or 3 minutes out of 90 minutes. Then you begin to say you don’t trust him, how? I could remember 6 or 4years back Benzema played 6 games without a goal. And the other problem is the defence. Odriozola and Eder Militao and the other goalkeepers. Even though his trust in some players is good, but it shouldn’t be always. Because they also fail some times. It’s just too much if truely these young stars are the club future, then something must be corrected.

  2. Zidane will destroy Real..
    It’s time Perez takes a stand, and shows him the door at the end of the season.

  3. All the time and resources spent in grooming Martin Odegaard for the first team and there’s no place to play him? Something is dramatically wrong somewhere when a player of this ability and skill doesn’t get any time.

  4. But we only hear about coutinho and griezmann being waste of money. Biased media continually ignored 370m euros spent last season on Reinier Hazard Militao jovic ferland Mendy and Rodrigo.
    And what did these players do to improve the team? 370m !!!

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