Real Madrid have Covid-19 to thank for their total transfer rethink
Paul Macdonald
- Updated: 5 May 2022 11:28 BST
- 4 min read
Real Madrid might not realise it yet, but the coronavirus pandemic might have been the best thing that happened to this team.
Prior to the pandemic, their business in the transfer market was, in the main, horrendously poor: Gareth Bale’s new contract and Eden Hazard’s botched deal; the €60 million spent on Luka Jovic, who could not have made less of an impact if he tried; deals like Reinier, Mariano Diaz and Alvaro Odriozola, which look like damaging loss-makers.
And even at that point in 2020, the money spent on Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo - €100m in total - appeared to have been squandered on potential that would never come. Both men desperately struggled to make any kind of step forward, ultimately reduced to cameos as Zinedine Zidane preferred to trust tried-and-tested options.
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The team was leaning heavily into the old guard, dangerously so.
And then, when coronavirus came, Florentino Perez fell into a flap. He was well aware of the commercial revenue that would be lost, the matchday earnings that would be squandered, and how Madrid’s immense spending power would be dragged backwards. He feared it so much he made the now-infamous Super League play, one that he still stands by.
Real Madrid's reset
But in the build-up to the Champions League in Paris in a month’s time, perhaps Perez will come to the realisation that coronavirus prompted a business reset for the club - and most of it has been overwhelmingly positive.
There was no more room to make mistakes such as Bale and Hazard again. So they simply didn’t spend anything that year, biding their time and being patient even in their pursuit of Kylian Mbappe, the nuevo Galactico Perez truly wants.
For Madrid not to spend anything was an absolute novelty. Had they not been forced into it, they would likely never have done it. And yet that level of restraint has been continued into their business since, and they are all the better for it.
Eduardo Camavinga has taken time to develop but he was outstanding from the bench in their win over Manchester City, and without question will feature more next season as Luka Modric and Toni Kroos age another year. The decision, too, to not cave into Sergio Ramos’ reckless contract demands has been completely vindicated by the player’s torrid, injury-hit spell at PSG.
And as the reliance fell back onto the players that were available, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo have emerged at precisely the correct moment. Vinicius has had unquestionably the more consistent season overall, moving himself to the precipice of being world class, while Rodrygo emerged to settle the City tie, scoring twice in injury time to turn the tide.
These two, under other circumstances, may not have even been here. Madrid seriously considered Vinicius’ situation in particular last summer before deciding to keep him, instead of cashing in. And while Rodrygo is younger, there was the concern that he too wasn’t progressing quickly enough.
The expected future briefly became the present and Madrid looked refreshed by it, turning options that may have previously been perceived as weak into strengths
- And yet these two, Camavinga, and the eternal Karim Benzema proved to be the deciding factors in the clash. The expected future briefly became the present and Madrid looked refreshed by it, turning options that may have previously been perceived as weak into strengths.
And all the while, Mbappe waits in the wings. His future is not certain but he seems more likely than not to head to Spain and Madrid’s superhuman efforts on this run to the final won’t have dissuaded him that in order to win the Champions League, he needs to be there. Antonio Rudiger, too, looks set to join, another excellent defensive upgrade available on a Bosman, just as David Alaba was last year. The team that appeared old and tiring could look pretty reinvigorated by the time next season starts.
And so while Madrid have, in many respects, lucked their way to the final in the face of adversity time and time again, their hunt for their 14th European Cup may have looked fundamentally different if the coronavirus had never happened.
Read more about: UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid
