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 those mods you’d totally treat to italian : Valyrian Steel, Felipejack, YoSnail, Ezek Ix or NeRObutBlanco.

Not the Frenchman you were expecting but we’ll have him without a second thought

So, Uncle Flo pulled one on us and as we were too focused on the Mbappe case, we suddenly got Camavinga - A great young talent ad two-way midfield presence, also wanted by, like, half of world football. How in the world did it happen? He was probably texting Eduardo from under the negotiations table or something, Oh well, let’s see you with a smile back on your faces Madridistas.

Eduardo Camavinga is a great addition to the team’s midfield both in terms of depth, in addition to being one for the future. He is skilled both in the attacking phase and the defensive aspect of the game. More specifically, he’s got a good eye for a pass and is a good carrier of the ball, while also being good at tackling. He may be young, but Modric is on the wrong side of 35 in a week’s time, Ceballos and Kroos are injured - the former being 31 - and Isco isn’t a CM predominantly. If needed, he is a competent defensive midfielder as well (I mean, look at his skillset). Now, if you take the usual injury count into account, you can see why midfield depth shouldn’t hurt. Quite the opposite actually. Does he have room for improvement? Absolutely. The man’s only 18, despite being one of the most sought-after talents.

Regarding Mbappe and more transfer gossip

According to Marca, Real Madrid will try to get Kylian Mbappe - who is reportedly “devastated” (Pedrerol says) that the move didn’t materialize, after yet another offer bit za dasuto following a long wait - to sign a pre-contract in January. Wow, they’re just not letting the man go.

Apparently, there was a chance that Mariano would move to Rayo... Well, you don’t need me to tell you how that one went. Dani Ceballos will also be staying with the Royal Whites for the time being.

Las Blancas draw the first game w/ City

The gals in white drew their first leg against Manchester City, courtesy of a late Kenti Robles strike. The MM staff have already covered some aspects of the game and I expect that there’s more to follow. They put up a valiant fight.

Qualifiers time

Here’s a list for you boys and girls, regarding today’s games;

• Kazakhstan - Ukraine
• Portugal - Ireland
• France - Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Latvia - Gibraltar
• Norway - Netherlands
• Faroe Islands - Israel
• Moldova - Austria
• Denmark - Scottland
• Russia - Croatia
• Luxemburg - Azerbaijan
• Turkey - Montenegro
• Slovenia - Slovakia
• Malta - Cyprus

Yeesh! That’s a lot of games.

Have fun and may the madridismo be with you. Happy Autumn.