Real Madrid were christened the ‘Club of the Century’ in 2000 by FIFA, winning 42.35% of the vote. When it comes to discarding their players though, the La Liga giants do not do justice to that moniker, often letting go of loyal servants in a ruthless manner – something Iker Casillas, Raul, Fernando Morientes et al can testify to.
With the summer transfer window in sight, Real Madrid’s transfer ban will be lifted and Florentino Perez will be free to overhaul the squad, letting go of players he considers deadwood – with Zinedine Zidane’s input, of course.
Here are 5 Real Madrid players who have no future at the club beyond the 2016/17 season:
#5 Lucas Silva
Real Madrid fans will wince at this piece of transfer business – although one could hardly blame Florentino Perez for this blunder. Lucas Silva was rated the Brazilian league’s best defensive midfielder when Cruzeiro were crowned champions of the Brasileirao in 2014/15. €14 million seemed like a bargain for a promising 21-year-old with the world of football at his feet.
After making his debut, it soon became apparent that Lucas still had some way to go – 2015/16 saw him loaned out to Marseille, where things went from bad to worse. The Ligue 1 side were unhappy with the player and hoped to cancel his loan deal, but Lucas refused, opting to be excluded from the squad and still collect his paycheck. A situation that was repeated at Madrid from the start of the 2016/17 season.
With his transfer worth at an all time low (falling 84.6% in 2016 to €2m), Real Madrid have loaned him back to Cruzeiro, but until the end of the 2017/18 season. He will still have two years on his Real Madrid contract when he returns, but Florentino Perez will definitely see that he is sold – even if it is for a paltry sum.
#4 Fabio Coentrao
Real Madrid paid €30 million to Benfica for Coentrao’s services back in 2011, on the back of impressive performances in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The Portuguese left-back signed a staggering 6-year contract with the Spanish giants – which seemed an intelligent decision for the best young left back in the world in 2011 – but has come back to haunt Madrid.
In 5 and a half seasons at the club, Coentrao has only made a paltry 56 appearances, missing out on over 51 games due to injury – not even counting the year on loan he spent at AS Monaco. When he has played, Coentrao has looked decent enough, although his most recent appearances were error-strewn.
Zinedine Zidane clearly does not trust the player, giving him only 150 minutes on the pitch in 4 appearances this season. Coentrao’s worth is rated as €7 million by Transfermarkt – and there may be clubs willing to take a gamble on a player who is still only 28-years-old. What is a guarantee though, is that club won’t be Real Madrid, who will not offer him a contract extension.
#3 Karim Benzema
Benzema’s presence in this list is a bit of a surprise – the Frenchman was a favourite of Florentino Perez and many previous Real Madrid managers, with Zinedine Zidane also favouring his fellow countryman. However, the incessant manner in which multiple news outlets in Spain are reporting a falling out between Benzema and Perez indicate that his time at Real Madrid is up.
The Real Madrid president won’t even have to placate fans were he to sell Benzema – the Frenchman is widely disliked among the Madridista fanbase, who view him as a sub-optimal centre-forward. That view is a bit harsh on Benzema, whose ‘sacrificial’ style of play allows the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale to flourish.
However, when 88% of 20,000 fans surveyed by AS want you to be dropped in favour of a younger, homegrown, Spanish replacement, Benzema has to surely realize that his time is up. The Frenchman is still a classy player – and Real Madrid could comfortably earn a sizable fee were they to sell him to one of the Premier League giants, with Chelsea and Arsenal both reportedly interested.
#2 Danilo
Like Karim Benzema, Danilo has felt the wrath of Real Madrid fans, with every touch of his being jeered by the crowd in the Santiago Bernabeu in Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Real Sociedad recently. The supporters did not take kindly to Danilo’s own goal against Celta Vigo, which saw Real Madrid crash out of the Copa del Rey.
In the 2016/17 season, there’s a clear correlation between Danilo’s presence and the likelihood of Real Madrid losing. Los Blancos have a win percentage of 75% without Danilo, which plummets to 53% when he is on the pitch – a stat that is sure to worry Zinedine Zidane.
Real Madrid are reportedly desperate to sell the right back, and might even recoup the €31.5 million fee they paid for him. The Chinese Super League’s transfer window is open until February 28, and Real Madrid could easily sell the Portuguese defender for a high fee.
#1 James Rodriguez
Real Madrid haven’t had the best of fitness records this season in midfield, with Luka Modric, Casemiro and Toni Kroos all experiencing time on the sidelines. It’s telling that even when those first-teamers were injured, Isco and Mateo Kovacic have been preferred to James Rodriguez. Zinedine Zidane has made no secret of the fact that accommodating James into the first team is ‘difficult’.
It was a huge surprise then, that James Rodriguez confirmed his decision to stay in the January transfer window. There’s a school of thought that the Colombian is hoping for a better deal in the summer transfer window – he has impressed in the few minutes Zidane has afforded him, scoring 4 times and assisting 10 goals this season.
Florentino Perez will obviously wince at the thought of a €80 million transfer being an unmitigated flop, but the Real Madrid president will be able to salve his wounds with a high fee from Chelsea in the offing. James is an obviously talented player in the wrong set of circumstances, and a move to another European giant could reignite his career.
