Villarreal linked to Real Madrid starlet Oscar Rodriguez

Marca has linked us to Oscar Rodriguez who is owned by Real Madrid and is on loan at Leganes. Transfer rumors when the window are closed almost never matter. Unless we see a deal actually announced outside the window, it’s probably nothing but chatter, especially considering it’s a Real Madrid player and Marca loves nothing more than spreading transfer rumors about them.

Oscar is a really good player. In fact, based on what he’s done this season, he might be one of the very best free kick takers on earth. He turns 22 years old tomorrow, and frankly he’s a darn good player.

On a strictly ‘talent acquisition’ basis he would be an absolutely wonderful addition, especially given the fact that Santi is out of contract at the end of the season and surely not more than a year away from retirement. I just wonder, given our other needs, how this would work.

We desperately need a CB, we really need a true CDM. Oscar would be another attacking midfield option. My feeling is, based on Villarreal’s spending history and the current market, that buying Oscar would mean that Zambo would not join full time (though Oscar would probably be cheaper). Otherwise I see no way that we could also get the CB and defensive mid we need.

If we complete this deal, it would be a player whose value is only going to go up. According to Market the fee would probably be around 10m, with Madrid putting in a buyback clause that, if activated, would ensure we made money on the overall exchange. We’ll wait and see how it goes, but there’s no reason to get too excited... yet.