How Much Better Can We Get? - The Transfers, Rumors & Lies Thread

They were practically bragging about signing him a couple of days ago and now….

It’s kinda like when we thought we had Mbappe in the bag in 2022.

 

CONFIRMED by @MarcA and @diarioas: Real Madrid WILL sign a midfielder this summer. The decision has been made, 100%.

🚨 CONFIRMED by @marca and @diarioas: Real Madrid WILL sign a midfielder this summer. The decision has been made, 100%. pic.twitter.com/FD7dEPGP1g

— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) May 23, 2025

Could be Paz? Yet to see concrete news about any other midfielder in the media.

 

I was thinking about this too. What if we’re just bringing back Nico and it’s not some galactico signing that some in the media were suggesting.

 

Hes a bit of a ballhog and doesn't make the most timely decisions in tight spaces. But even if his ceiling is not worldclass, hes very good to have as a rotational player. I'm not going to hold a guy at fault for being *almost* great. Keep him and add another one similar to him, just better defensively and more of a team player. Bischof could have been that but hes gone too smh

 

If we don’t bring Kroos replacement we can forget about winning Barcelona or winning the CL.

We don’t have the middle field to control and win big games and we saw that this season.
Liverpool has Macalister
Barca had Pedri
PSG has Vitinha
Inter has Barella

 

Klopp's Pool had no one like Kroos. Players you mentioned are part of midfield 3. While we have Jude, Fede, Tcho and essentially saying they can only be part of a working midfield with a 4th one added.

Also wasn't Guler signed as eventual Modric replacement? No successful path without next Kroos sounds damning and that only 4-4-2 can work with the starters we have.

 

He's another brutal player entering his prime..

 

You can always say "he doesn't influence the game" but you can't exactly pinpoint why. Saying he was awful at Arsenal is a massive exaggeration, he was decent just not a world beater. But were used to this weird crusade you have against him by now.

Both us and Arsenal expected that he can "put it together" because he has the talent but sometimes it doesn't work out like that for a million reasons. But if you have some perspective instead of unreasonable expectations, hes a very good player. I'd say he lacks intangibles to be really great - tactical awareness, anticipation, stuff like that - but with Modric leaving, there is no harm from keeping him.

 

If we’re open to signing a veteran who’d be good for only a few years (like we’ve done recently with Rudiger and Alaba), Labotka would be a great option.

 

Your point is correct, but I think those players are closer in profile to Modric than Kroos. Like their closest equivalents to Kroos are Gravenberch, De Jong, Fabian Ruiz, and Calhanoglu.

 

Casemiro-Kroos-Modric the end.
Now it’s time to build a new middle field.
I hope it’s going to be a massive transfer window with some new faces.

 

Problem is, Madrid isn't and will never be a gegenpressing team.

So I think it's either Arda develops into a world beater overnight, or Madrid signs a more established passing midfielder. I'm not a fan of signing an AM bec. I want Jude there as a constant goal threat.

 

Breaking news: Real Madrid has signed a new galactico midfielder for a free transfer...

Uncle Flo has has managed to sign Toni Kroos for next season

 

I think Nico is going to surprise many people.

He is closer to a regular player than Guler.

Guler right now is an AM and can fill in at right wing or at rcm (assuming there is a dm behind him) but its not optimal.

Nico can probably naturally fill in at rcm without a problem, and may be a more effective right winger because although he is also not the fastest like Guler, he has a physicality to his game.

I also think that Nico may be able to play in a double pivot long term. He is closer to an 8 like Valverde and Bellingham.

In star studded teams, it always beneficial to have a profile that allows you to fit in multiple positions because they are not moving the stars out of position so you can play your favorite positon.

 

I am still emotional about last night. Modric was voted the worst signing of the year. Actually, I did not understand why Perez brought him to the club. Kroos was disrespected by Bayern. Casemiro came to the academy unnoticed. I doubt anyone really knew him when he made his first team debut. Of course, it was nice to sign a Galactico or someone with a good rep, but history showed that things can happen differently.

So, Nico Paz might become a Real Madrid legend. Or Nico Williams too.

 

The problem with Rodrygo which becomes apparent from these comparisons (and even if you go back a year) is that Rodrygo makes very few key passes which I use as a substitute for "playmaking".

He is a very direct player. Even when he plays behind a central striker, he does not play as an AM but a second striker. He just does not have that passing creativity which is sort of needed when your other attackers are Mbappe, Vini, and Bellingham. Because of this, he is just a bad fit on the right. I don't know if any websites split his statistics by position, because I think this is less of an issue when he playing on the left. He is more creative on the left wing but its a small sample size.

This is a consistent pattern. If you compare him to Brahim 23/24 (Brahim key passes dropped this year) or Kubo in any of the last two years... this contrast stands out again.

Unforunately, there are a lack of natural right wing options. Liverpool was linked to Kubo this last year when Salah's future was in doubt. And he was also linked to PSG who has numerous left wing options playing on the right. It is not a surprise that PSG is now linked to Mastantuno who is 17 because what other right wingers are there? This sort of tells you the state of right wingers right now.

 

I still have my doubts. Trent has Salah in front of him. He acts alot like an inverted fullback which is actually more appropriate for the left side where Vini plays.

 

The assumption here is that TAA works as a wingback when right now the evidence is to the contrary. England tried him probably a dozen times at RWB and it didn't work.

In particular, it did not work because TAA did not make use of that extra freedom on the right that comes fromt the extra space. People assumed that because he is a good creator/passer and not great defensively, it would help cover up his deficiencies. In the end, if you listen to Slot or Klopp they give you the perspective that TAA just needs to play RB and defend. They have tried the other options.

The most important factor for a wingback is the ability to make use of that extra space. Bayer has Frimpong on the right, who runs up and down the flank. He does not resemble TAA at all.
Grimaldo plays more like TAA on the left at Bayer, but he connects with Wirtz who leans towards the left (similar to Vini at Madrid).

This TAA as a wingback phenomenon is not something new.