Real Madrid's Midfield Dilemma: The Cost of Passing on Rodri

Real Madrid are discovering what it costs to say no to Rodri.

They had the chance. They passed. And now, every big game is a reminder of the hole they left in the middle of the pitch.

A midfield without a compass

Against Inter Milan, the problem screamed off the pitch. José Mourinho’s side could not control the tempo, could not suffocate the game, could not dictate where and how it was played. They ran, they broke, they countered. But they never truly imposed themselves.

The plan is clear enough: win the ball, explode forward, and let Vinícius, Mbappé and Bellingham finish the job in the final third. Quick transitions as the main weapon. Chaos as a tool.

The risk is just as clear. When those transitions break down, opponents bite back. Inter did it, winning the ball high, turning Madrid’s looseness into danger and chances. Thibaut Courtois had to step in to prevent something worse. Again.

All of it circles back to the same point: Madrid never went all in for Rodri.

The wrong choice?

When they had to choose, the club leaned towards a different profile. They preferred Bernardo Silva, a more attack-minded, creative option. Barcelona turned Bernardo down. Madrid pushed. And still, the core issue remained unsolved.

So Mourinho continues to lean on Aurélien Tchouaméni, Federico Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga to start Madrid’s attacks and structure the game. All three are top-level players. None of them are Rodri.

The result is a team that can destroy, can run, can hurt you in space, but still struggles to construct sustained attacks and consistent chances against elite opposition. Building play remains the unfinished chapter of Mourinho’s project.

Names like Arda Güler or even Trent Alexander-Arnold are floated as possible makeshift solutions to help with progression and creativity from deep. They might patch certain phases of play. None of them solve the fundamental absence of a natural controller of Rodri’s calibre.

Zubimendi back on the radar

That is why the winter transfer window is already looming large at Valdebebas. Madrid know this is the market in which they can finally address that specific vacancy. And one name has moved back into focus: Martín Zubimendi.

The Arsenal midfielder was already on their radar in the summer. Now, circumstances in London might turn him from a difficult target into a realistic opportunity.

In England, predictions over his future are starting to pile up. It is not hard to understand why. Zubimendi’s role at Arsenal has shrunk alarmingly. He has started all five of the Gunners’ official matches this season on the bench.

The clearest message came in the Champions League clash with Napoli at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. A game of that magnitude, a midfield battle made for his profile – and he watched almost all of it from the sidelines, getting just eight minutes at the end.

His reduced importance is not new. It stretches back to the end of last season. In the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain, he sat out the full 90 minutes and only came on in extra time.

When he plays, he delivers. That pattern has not changed. What has changed is Mikel Arteta’s hierarchy. The Arsenal coach keeps choosing other options in his position, and that kind of repeated snub can start to weigh on any player, even one as steady as the former Real Sociedad man.

Spain proof and the price tag

Real Madrid’s admiration for Zubimendi is no secret. His performances for Spain have only hardened that view. When Rodri suffered a serious injury, it was Zubimendi who stepped into the national team’s midfield and kept the machine running.

He did not just fill in. He shone in the biggest moments. Think of the second half of the Euro 2024 final. Think of extra time in the 2026 World Cup final. Under extreme pressure, he showed he can organise, protect, and launch a team from the base of midfield.

Arsenal paid 70 million euros to bring him in last season and tied him down until 2030. His current market value sits in a similar range. That fee would allow Arsenal to recover their investment, and for Madrid it is not a figure that would scare them off, especially given the strategic importance of the role.

The problem is not just the price. It is the competition.

Not just Madrid watching

Zubimendi will not lack offers if Arsenal open the door. Chelsea are already in the frame, with Xabi Alonso keen on the player. Alonso wanted him when his own name was being seriously considered for the Real Madrid job, a move Florentino Pérez ultimately decided against.

Now the landscape is different. Madrid have a superstar front line but a midfield that still lacks that one piece to tie everything together. Zubimendi, underused at Arsenal and proven with Spain, looks like the kind of opportunity that does not come around twice.

The question is simple: having once refused to do everything to get Rodri, can Real Madrid really afford to hesitate again?