Analysing Real Madrid’s transfer window so far

Ten years ago, Florentino Perez made an emphatic return to the Real Madrid president role. Upon his return to the office, Perez went about making a huge splash in the transfer market to ensure he made a statement. He has done the same this season, Hasan Karim investigates how Real Madrid will look this season.

Not only did the club break their own transfer record twice in the same window, they hoovered up some of the best talents in Europe too. With Cristiano Ronaldo, then the world record signing, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso all arriving in the Spanish capital. It was the spending spree that kicked off Perez’s trophy-laden second reign as head honcho in Spain.

Now in 2019, off the back of their worst season in decades, Ronaldo is gone, Kaka and Alonso are retired and Karim Benzema was perhaps one of the very few who truly shone for the club last season. With the club finishing a record total of 19 points behind Barcelona, the second time in as many seasons that the gap is double digits.

With Zinedine Zidane now back at the helm, Real have once again gone big in the market in order to shock the club back into life. Since the start of June, Madrid have already purchased Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic and Ferland Mendy – all of whom join the likes of Eder Militao and Rodrygo Goes who had been purchased recently. With some new names on the team sheet, how do they fit in?

Eden Hazard:

Anyone who has watched Chelsea in recent years and particularly last season will already be well aware of just how good Eden Hazard is. The Belgian has been sensational for the Blues and the stats just further back up how good he has been. Hazard is the only player in Europe’s top five leagues to have scored 20+ and assisted 20+ last season in all competitions for club and country.

The Belgian brings a pace and trickery to his game that few at Real can match and he also provides end product. His ability on the ball has seen him ranked amongst the top three players in Europe, he ranked higher than Lionel Messi, completing 61% of his dribbles.

Great… Now 'their' useless dribble debates will never stop lol pic.twitter.com/o5BH1n7JNc

— M•A•J (@Ultra_Suristic) June 7, 2019

When it comes to being a creator, Hazard is truly elite. Since the start of 2012-13 in the Premier League, he has created 595 chances for his team-mates, that is more than David Silva, Mesut Ozil and Christian Eriksen. For comparison to the current Real Madrid roster, Hazard would rank second behind Benzema for goals in all competitions – outside of goals? He would rank top in assists, while also being ranked for top for dribbles per 90, and top for key passes per 90. In short, Eden Hazard will be a sublime addition to Real’s roster.

Luka Jovic:

Luka Jovic burst onto the scene last season in Germany with a solid campaign. The striker scored 27 goals and assisted seven in all competitions for Eintracht Frankfurt. Jovic, who joined Frankfurt on loan from Benfica, was scouted by many of Europe’s elite clubs – including Real’s bitter rivals, Barcelona.

His abilities in front of goal in the area were what ignited interest amongst the elite, The Serbian International is a no-nonsense finisher when presented with the opportunity in the area, his average of 2.5 shots in the area per 90 in the Bundesliga is just slightly more than Benzema’s 2.3, who leads the way for Real Madrid. The 21-year-old, however, has more shots than Benzema per game with nearly four per 90 minutes compared to the Frenchman’s near three.

DONE DEAL: Real Madrid have confirmed the signing of Luka Jovic

How many goals will he score for the LaLiga side next season?

For more player stats — https://t.co/td5wVEdg20 pic.twitter.com/GZzalMHHB1

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) June 4, 2019

The striker boasts a solid and varied finishing ability as he has shown capable of scoring with either foot and also with his head throughout last season. He has also been a steady and consistent scorer for Frankfurt this season. With Real missing a player who can provide simple out-and-out goalscoring ability since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Jovic could well be the man who replaces the Portuguese’s ludicrous shot numbers in the box.

When paired with the likes of Benzema, Hazard, Kroos and Modric – Jovic will certainly have plenty of players willing to feed him the ball in the box, something that could prove simply lethal for Los Blancos.

Ferland Mendy: 

Considering the litany of fantastic full-backs that Real Madrid have had in years gone by, Ferland Mendy has huge shoes to fill. Slotting in at left-back, Mendy will find himself competing with Marcelo, who has been one of the world finest for some time.

The Brazilian had quite the forgettable campaign last season, disrupted by injury, losing form and eventually losing his place to youth academy product, Sergio Reguilon. However, Reguilon has reportedly found himself on Zidane’s expendable list, a suspicion solidified with the purchase of Mendy.

Ferland Mendy: Only Youcef Atal (101) completed more dribbles than @ferland_mendy (55) of defenders in Ligue 1 last season

For more player stats — https://t.co/7Rz4aN1P1H pic.twitter.com/tkSDlngte9

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) June 4, 2019

The Frenchman is an exceptional talent and it is quite easy to see why he has been purchased by Real. With a heavy emphasis on the full-backs adding extra width to the team, it is clear that Mendy is capable of doing just that.

In Ligue 1 last season, Mendy averaged nearly 2 dribbles per game, that is more than every full-back currently at Madrid. The now-former Lyon player is also completing the same number of key passes as Marcelo and Carvajal.

Defensively, Mendy has also proven to be solid. In Ligue 1 last season he completed 1.5 tackles, 1.1 interceptions and was dribbled past only 0.3 times per 90. For comparison, Marcelo 1.5 tackles, less than one interception and was dribbled past once per game. Dani Carvajal averaged 1.7 tackles per 90, 1.1 interceptions per 90 and was dribbled past once per 90.

With Marcelo now on the wrong side of 30 and Reguilon seemingly not trusted by Zidane, Mendy could see himself taking the starting role should the Brazilian struggle again this campaign.

With Barcelona having had a complete stranglehold on the league for the better part of the last decade, Real will want to assert their dominance and reclaim control of the Spanish top flight. With some solid purchases already in and seemingly more to come, this could very well be the start of Real’s re-emergence at the summit of world football once again.

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