There are signings that seem flawed and that of Arda Güler is a case that seems textbook. Last summer, Real Madrid signed the player, one of the great promises of Turkish football, for whom he paid 20 million euros plus another ten million for objectives to Fenerbahce. The player has done nothing but chain injuries since the preseason and his contribution for now is meager: 95 minutes played spread over five games, 58 of them against Arandina in the first round of the Copa del Rey.
On Sunday against Sevilla, Arda Güler experienced one of the bitterest faces in football. Late in the second half, with the score at 0-0, Carlo Ancelotti sent him to warm up on the wing and, when he was about to leave, Luka Modric scored what would ultimately be the winning goal for the Whites. The Italian coach canceled the change and instead of the Turk, Dani Ceballos and youth player Álvaro Rodríguez came out to play later. To make matters worse, yesterday was Güler’s birthday, who turned 19 years old.
Güler’s face on the bench was once again a poem. After the match, Ancelotti was asked the reason for the change and his response, contrary to custom, was a bit sour: “I had one thought before Modric’s goal and after the goal I had another thought. I think he did.” understands and if he doesn’t understand it, nothing happens, but I don’t have to explain,” he commented.
Arda Güler has not spoken since his presentation as a new Real Madrid player on July 7. The feeling that there is now in the club is that the physique with which he came, too fragile, was not enough to withstand the high pace of the competition. In the first four months the player suffered three injuries, the first already in the preseason in the United States, an injury to the internal meniscus of his right knee that forced him to undergo surgery contrary to what was initially thought. The management of the Turk’s meniscus injury cost the head of the club’s medical services, the Croatian Niko Mihic, who had been in office since 2017, the dismissal.
Güler’s second injury occurred on September 27, a puncture in his left rectus femoris muscle while performing a shot in training in Valdebebas. That week Ancelotti was scheduled to be included in the squad to play against Las Palmas.
The third injury was also muscular, a small tear in the right quadriceps that kept him out for another month. Finally, the player was able to make his debut on January 6 against Arandina in the Cup, a match in which he started and played almost an hour with a good feeling. Since then he has played in dribs and drabs.
If things continue like this, the future of Güler, who has signed with the whites for six seasons, could be outside Madrid on loan, in what would be a case very similar to that of Brahim. In this past winter market, three teams were interested in the player: Las Palmas, Mallorca and Real Sociedad, but Madrid chose not to give him up for the moment. In summer it can be very different and AC Milan is the best placed.
