This summer is expected to be one of turmoil and transfers in Madrid as Zinedine Zidane looks to rebuild a Real Madrid side in his own image. That will begin with the arrival of Rodrygo Goes, the latest Brazilian starlet to move from Santos to Europe for 45 million euros on a contract until 2025.
The 18-year-old follows in the footsteps of Vinícius Júnior who made a similar move last summer and will be looking to following suit in making an impression in his debut season in La Liga as Real Madrid look to get back on top. This tactical analysis will analyse how Rodrygo can bring a new threat to Real Madrid by using statistics to evaluate the impact he could have once he arrives at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
Stick to the wings
As a traditional winger, Rodrygos game centres around hugging the touchline until he gains possession and even then remaining out wide. Unlike the likes of Gareth Bale who constantly look to drift inside to gain possession and have more influence, Rodrygo will stick outwide, only cutting inside once on the ball and being supported by a full-back.
Much like Vinícius Júnior before him, Rodrygo is substantially more comfortable on the left. Similarities could also be drawn to Cristiano Ronaldo at his peak at Real Madrid, where he stuck to the flanks and then looked to cut inside, rather than occupying a central position. In fact, on the few occasions when he has been deployed as a centre-forward, he has rarely stuck to his position and has instead dropped deep.
In fact, only two of his goals have come from right of the centre of the pitch and neither of those came from wider than the six yard box. In recent months, Santos have deployed him more and more on the right hand side of the pitch, but they are still yet to get the best out of him from that side of the pitch, where his dribbling success rates have dropped significantly, going from double figures to below five on average. These figures did begin to recover in late April as he grows increasingly comfortable on the right.
Just how that will work out in Spain remains to be seen. Vinícius has made that role his own in his debut season, overtaking Bale and others, whilst the potential arrival of Eden Hazard could complicate matters even further. That could mean that Rodrygo is restricted to a substitute role, tried on the right, where hed compete with Marco Asensio. There can be no debate that competition will be stiff for Rodrygo right from the off and he may have to adapt to Zidanes preferred style of wingers who look to cut inside, rather than hugging the line, in order to work his way into the team.
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