Open Thread: September 18, 2020.

Hola Madridistas!

The Open Thread/Daily Merengue is a place where you can discuss anything and everything related to football. Feel free to discuss the topics presented here, or start your very own discussions! The Open thread will be posted every day by one of the mods: Valyrian Steel, felipejack or Oscnar.

Bale+ Reguilón saga continues

You know the drill by now. Basically done deals with passed medicals, but so far no cigars. According to numerous reports things should be done today, but always a good reason to talk about the potential moves in the comments.

It’s a numbers game

Even though not yet official, (at least not according to the official Realmadrid.com webpage) the departures could lead to multiple players changing squad-numbers. With Bale leaving, Asensio seems to be the one taking over #11. Vinicius is taking #20 and Rodrygo #25. Ødegaard is apparently getting #21 (Brahims old number) while Mayoral is getting #16 (James old number) for now. All this according to Marcas report.

Who will play backup for Benzema?

Speaking of Mayoral, it now seems there is a slim chance of him staying. According to a report by AS, there is a chance Jovic will leave for a 1-season loan. The general idea is that he could be a starter at another team, and get back on track with more minutes. This again leaves the backup-spot up for Benzema up for grabs. The plan is still for Mariano to leave (most likely on loan) and even though Mayoral might still get sold, the club is not ruling out him staying. Zidane apparently has liked what he is seeing from Mayoral in training so far, and is not against the idea of having him staying. According to reports after the Getafe-game, Mayoral started the second half. But then again, neither Jovic or Mariano were ready for that game. This could be an interesting saga for the last weeks of the window.