After the mess that Real Madrid have been in this season, most people thought that they would sign some players to help them get their season back on track. However, January came and went, but Zidane opted to sign no-one and kept faith in the squad.
And it is as though they are already regretting it. Against Levante last weekend, the Blancos dropped two more points. Thankfully for them, however, even Barcelona dropped points against Espanyol and, as a result, couldn’t extend their lead over their eternal rivals.
The January window is a time when clubs rectify the gaps that they couldn’t or didn’t fill in the summer. However, Madrid chose to ignore it once again and risk feeling remorseful after the season ends. Here are three players that they will regret not signing.
3 #1 Alisson
The thing with Keylor Navas is that he might be a brilliant shot-stopper with cat-like ability to react to shots. However, his awareness and intelligence is something that puts his abilities under scrutiny.
For instance, the second goal against Levante would have been saved by someone like David De Gea or Kepa Arrizabalaga or Alisson. The Roma shot-stopper was heavily linked with Liverpool, but the move never materialised.
He was also linked with Real Madrid, but nothing concrete came off that either. At this point in time, Real Madrid are in desperate need of a goalkeeper and Alisson has been the best goalkeeper in Serie A this season.
2 #2 Mauro Icardi
The goalkeeping conundrum of Real Madrid is more due to Keylor Navas’ erratic nature rather than his ability, but the striker issue with the Blancos has been a concern since last season itself. In 2016-17, those concerns were fogged with goals from James Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata.
This time, however, they are not there. As a result, Karim Benzema’s severe decline is more apparent than ever before. The problem with the Frenchman can be explained with just one example: against Levante, he dribbled away from 3 players and avoided the onrushing fourth player, but still couldn’t manage to hit the shot on target, rendering all the great work as obsolete.
Real Madrid need someone who can finish off chances. A striker is bound to miss a lot, but he should also be able to score more than he misses—something which can’t be seen in Benzema.
However, in Mauro Icardi, they would have gotten an in-form player that could score twice in three games at least. The Argentine has scored 18 goals from 24 games this season, displaying his ability to score.
1 Milan Skriniar
Mauro Icardi’s Inter team-mate, Milan Skriniar is a man in demand. And it is only fair given that the Nerazzurri defender has been a rock for his team so far. While the snubbing of Icardi could be explained by the fact that the Blancos are targeting a better striker in the summer—Harry Kane—not signing a centre-back is quite inscrutable.
Yes, the Galacticos have four centre-halves, but only Raphael Varane and Nacho have shown some continuity and reliability. The others are either injury prone or just have too many lapses in concentration.
This is why Madrid needed Skriniar to partner Varane in defence. The Madrid backline can’t defend a lead even if their lives depended on it, but signing Skriniar could have changed that.
