Rodri is one of the players being considered to strengthen Real Madrid‘s midfield, and this is not a recent development. He has been an option for some time and has always been highly regarded by the club. However, the Santiago Bernabéu offices have almost ruled out bidding for him.
Rodri and Florentino Pérez
Rodri is the kind of player everyone would want on their team. In addition to the enormous quality he has demonstrated—he is the current Ballon d’Or winner—he is a professional footballer like those of yesteryear, totally committed, a team player, committed to the collective effort. But he is also a person who embodies certain values that have gradually disappeared from the world of sport, being a very good person, sensible, studious, without tattoos, without social media, 100% focused, something that is very much appreciated at the club, especially by Florentino Pérez, who sees in him a unique footballer who is also Spanish.
And if we talk about needs, there is no doubt that Rodri fulfills 100% of what Real Madrid needs: a leader in midfield who is capable of controlling all aspects of the game from his position on the field, capable of leading the attack, capable of organizing the team, but also capable of organizing the defensive transition, which has hurt the team so much in the past season.
According to club sources consulted by Grada3, under normal circumstances he would be the first choice and Florentino Pérez would do everything in his power to bring him to Real Madrid, but unfortunately for both parties, the circumstances are not normal.
Rodri and his knee injury
In the world of soccer, it has been shown that cruciate ligament injuries do not affect certain positions in midfield in the same way. Midfielders tend to recover best from these injuries because of the way they play soccer, which is more measured, more about finding space to create play, more about distribution than big changes of pace, but Real Madrid does not want to take any risks. The experience of recent years calls for caution.
Alaba has been out for a season and a half and is still far from his best form, Militao has broken both knees, Courtois has missed many games this season due to injuries stemming from his knee injury, and now we have to see how Carvajal will return. And at Real Madrid, as is logical, they are afraid to pay $150 million for a 29-year-old player who has just come back from a serious injury. The risk is real and the investment is very high, so the price to pay, in sporting terms, in the event of a relapse, would be very high, and Florentino Pérez, as much as it pains him, is not willing to take such a risk.
Alternatives at Real Madrid
Real Madrid is looking for other players for midfield. The options they like best are also the most complicated due to their market price. We are talking about Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández, the Argentines from Liverpool and Chelsea, but their high price complicates any deal considerably. On the other hand, Real Madrid needs to offload players in order to sign new ones. There is no room.
The option of Rodri is still on the table, because it has to be, he is the Ballon d’Or winner, but the club does not seem willing to take such a risk. It does not want to sign another player who is coming back from a cruciate ligament injury, so it will have to push for other alternatives.