He has landed on his feet with Xabi Alonso and is continuing to dispel any doubts with every game. What seemed like a stopgap solution to cover for Mbappé in the first game against Al-Hilal has turned into the revelation of Real Madrid in the Club World Cup. Gonzalo has broken into the first team through hard work, effort, and the most important thing in football: goals.
Gonzalo earns his place
Gonzalo has not only earned a place in the Real Madrid squad as a striker, he has earned a place in the starting eleven, and we will have to see what decision Xabi Alonso makes next Saturday once Mbappé is back and more settled. The Castilla player has been given an opportunity and continuity, and ultimately trust, and he has not let Xabi Alonso down. Two of his three goals have been decisive: the first against Al-Hilal secured a draw that ultimately proved decisive in securing top spot in the group, and yesterday he scored a header to put his side into the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup. He is in the running for the Golden Boot award, with only Ángel Di María ahead of him with four goals from the penalty spot, but the Argentine is already out of the competition after Benfica were eliminated in extra time in the round of 16 against Chelsea.
Gonzalo pulls the team forward
But beyond his goals, which are no small feat, the footballer is inspiring the rest of his teammates from the front line, with the effort and hard work of a youth player who has come to conquer the world, who wants to make a name for himself at the club of his life, knowing the difficulties that this entails for someone who has come up through the ranks. The pressure starts with him, and he is tireless, infecting all his teammates, including Vinicius himself, who seems to have got the message that Xabi Alonso sent him in a press conference a few days ago.
Gonzalo is tireless, he fights with whoever he has to, he goes out to receive the ball, he offers easy, uncomplicated solutions, playing with one or two touches, he doesn’t need anything else, he understands his role, he understands that his job is to give fluidity to the game and be in the area when the team attacks, a 9.
The signing of a striker
It looks like Florentino Pérez will be able to save himself a signing this summer. The arrival of a number 9 was a necessity, but now it seems that everything could change with Gonzalo. The need for a specialist in the area was precisely for games like yesterday’s, with a team—in this case Juventus—sitting back and where the only solutions were shots from outside the area or headers into the box, the latter option having been ruled out last year due to a lack of specialists. But now there is Gonzalo and a full-back like Alexander Arnold, who is struggling to adapt to Real Madrid but who delivers crosses like an angel. The Englishman’s cross was perfect, and Gonzalo’s header was unstoppable, pure number nine. He didn’t even have to worry about positioning the ball, he just turned his head and put it between the posts, so close and yet so far from the goalkeeper, who got a touch but had no chance. A goal worthy of a number 9, a goal from a youth player who is knocking on the door of the first team.
Gonzalo is giving Real Madrid and Florentino Pérez reasons to forget about signing a striker this summer. They have him at home and he could win the first Golden Boot of his career in the first Club World Cup in history. And now Xabi Alonso has a problem for Saturday after the return of Mbappé.