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Real Madrid reportedly facing dilemma in Bellingham pursuit, it has to do with Gvardiol

CaughtOffside

's potential move to Bernabeu has been a hot topic at 

The club have made it clear that the English midfielder is the top target for the summer.

However, according to Christian Falk of Bild, the Whites set their sights at 

The club needs a young defender of Gvardiol's versatility.

The problem is, the Croatian would be an over €100m deal, as would Bellingham.

Naturally, it's unrealistic to sign both and Los Blancos will be forced to choose between the two.

Why Real Madrid need €100m centre-back Josko Gvardiol - 3 reasons

Many fans are wondering whether the Whites are overpaying for a player they don't really need (

Yet we think the Gvardiol move would make perfect sense — here is why.

Gvardiol is extremely young, just 20. Yet at this age, he is an indisputable starter for one of Germany’s best teams and massively helped Croatia to the third place at the World Cup.

His fee is massive but nothing suggests transfer fees will get less crazy with time — quite the contrary. Most likely, €100m is the minimal price he’ll ever cost. And, spread across a decade of security at the back, the fee seems reasonable.

 are not getting younger. The Austrian is 30, the German is 29 — Madrid would need a replacement for them in a few years' time, and Gvardiol would come in handy.

Statistically, Josko Gvardiol completes the most dribbles across centre-backs in the top 5 leagues — 0.82 dribbles per game. How would it matter for a centre-back?

In practical terms, it gives Gvardiol more options to beat the opponent’s pressing and also move the ball upfield. His dribbling isn’t the flashy stuff Vinicius or Neymar would do but it works — here’s an example.

Josko has three passing options but none seems good enough for him:

So, instead of passing, he beats the guy right in front of him with a body feint to progress the ball:

Croatia won’t score here but it’s remarkable that Gvardiol carries the ball for some 30 metres alone with the ball at his feet.

In addition to his dribbling, he averages 85 passes per game of which 4 are progressive, meaning that four times per 90 minutes Gvardiol moves the ball high up the pitch with his passing. At least once a game his actions lead to his team shooting the ball. These are one of the best stats for centre-backs in the top 5 leagues.

The green stripe is like a FIFA games ratings but backed up by data. 94 for progressive passes, for example, means that he’s in the top 6% of centre-backs for this stat.

We’ve shown you his dribbling, we’ll show you an example of his progressive passing.

Here, against Real Madrid in the Champions League in the first minute of the game, the Croatian spots his teammate starting a run down the flank:

With what seems like a simple floated ball from Gvardiol, RB Leipzig will be inside our penalty area within 4 seconds:

Arguably the biggest concern Madrid fans have with the potential Gvardiol signing is that Flo Perez would spend money on the area that needs improvement less than the full-back department. 

 is... well, Odriozola. On the left, Mendy is simply not good enough for Madrid and doesn't have a suitable cover.

Obviously signing a full-back needs to be the priority, but getting Gvardiol could allow Madrid to solve this problem.

The Croatian would be paired alongside Rudiger at centre-back, while Alaba and Militao could be moved to left-back and right-back, respectively. Given both David and Eder boost enough experience playing out wide, this could make Madrid's defence truly unstoppable.

The world is not ready for this backline:

But just in case, Gvardiol has experience playing as a left-back. He played a bunch of games in this position last season for RB Leipzig.

Josko Gvardiol is an epitome of a modern ball-playing centre-back. He is excellent on the ball, an expert passer, a threat in the opposition box and a chance creator. Think of Gvardiol as a hybrid of Sergio Ramos with his ability going forward and (sorry) Gerard Pique with his passing and positional excellence.

€100 million is huge money but all things considered, it may be worth the risk.

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Patson Pate

Yes ,  kvacho is complete player I really like him

Jerry Agyei

He plays well at LW. Will never work at Real since they have Vini and Hazard on the bench. Kvacho will rot at Real

realmadridfan1652039794329573166

He can be converted to the number 10 role since he knows how to pass, assist and dribble, there's always a way for his kind of talent

Mr Kenog

we should sign kvacha of Napoli, I love that guy style of play over Bellingham

No Madrid has made a mistake before signing harzad with such money 💰 and nothing came from him so they don’t want to do like that again 
You have to watch what you want to buy before spending such money 💰

Believeoshaa2020

Remember the money RM tabled for Kylian Mbappe...€200M. We signed Aurelian for €100M.

RM want to be sure where they must spend money.

Yassin.

Please delete that comment, makes no sense. You think having money is just to buy players every year because we have the money? All the spending Man City and PSG did, we still whoop them. We then added a $100m Midfielder. Bellingham is nice but a bit overrated, Gvardiol will partner well with Militao for years to come. Our midfield only needs a creative player and I dnt think it’s Bellingham. So no need to get him, I prefer KK. The kid from Napoli already got one trait we want from our players (The love for Madrid). Bellingham will eventually go to PL even if he comes next summer.

AbuConteh

Faith Royal 03

Nonsense where is all the money that we are calling Barca they are broke, 

The reality is Real Madrid is d one that broke not Barca since Madrid can not sign 2 players in a single season

sadeeq sani b

He is overrated, that price there is a scam and it will be stupid for Madrid to break their bank for him

Lamin Manjang

That’s English players for you? I’m sure pedri will be 200m if he’s English

Llody Brown

Oh, brother, say it again. We have Camavinga, Tchouameni and Valverde, i don't know why we should buy this English guy.

Abubakr Abdulkarim

As usual. English players are overhyped while there are other players. 

RM13

Imagine how much vini will cost if he is English

why Bellingham i don't see anything about him

Player		G
Artem Dovbyk	Girona	18
Ante Budimir	Osasuna	16
Borja Borja Mayoral	Getafe	15
Alexander Sørloth	Villarreal	15

Real Madrid reportedly facing dilemma in Bellingham pursuit, it has to do with Gvardiol

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