Rodrygo played just 23 minutes for Real Madrid in their Club World Cup clash against RB Salzburg on Thursday night, fuelling speculation about a potential move to Arsenal.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the Brazilian isn’t a major part of Xabi Alonso’s plans, with the likes of Vinicius Junior and Arda Guler now seemingly clear of him in the pecking order.
Rodrygo didn’t feature at all for Real Madrid in their last game against Pachuca, which sparked reports suggesting Alonso isn’t an admirer of the player and that he could well push for a Bernabeu exit.
Meanwhile, Arteta is very keen on signing Rodrygo, and the stars might be beginning to align for the Gunners for a potential transfer to materialise on this front.
Spain’s media produce Rodrygo verdict after Alonso snubs him again
Rodrygo started the first Club World Cup match on the right wing, registering an assist but was hooked after 65 minutes.
Left out entirely in the second, Alonso reverted to the 3-5-2 shape that he used at Bayer Leverkusen in their final group stage encounter, which had no room for the 24-year-old winger.
Not entrusted as a wing-back over either Trent Alexander-Arnold or Fran Garcia, while Guler was picked as the ten and Vinicius and Gonzalo Garcia formed a front two.
Real Madrid ran out 3-0 winners, courtesy of goals from Vinicius, Federico Valverde and Garcia, with Rodrygo only introduced as a substitute in the final 20 minutes.
In their match report, Spanish publication AS claimed that this omission for the superstar wide man does not rule out any of the potential hypotheses on his situation.
“Nor did Rodrygo resurface on the third day,” they wrote.
“A substitute again, even without [Kylian] Mbappé available, which does not rule out any hypothesis: he is still afflicted, Xabi Alonso does not like him, he is marketable meat or, simply, the coach does not like to turn up to a match without a born number nine.”
None of these potentialities spell good news for Rodrygo; Alonso not liking him would be detrimental to his prospects at the Bernabeu, as are the ideas that he’s ‘marketable meat’ or not valued as a potential number nine.
Rodrygo is Arsenal’s to lose
These words from AS paint a poignant picture of a turbulent situation, highlighting that the player’s position in the Real Madrid team is almost untenable.
There are very few scenarios in which the player is not at least somewhat tempted to agitate for a switch away from the Spanish capital, given how clear it is that he’s no longer seen as a prominent figure.
This shows that Arsenal have a genuine chance of landing Rodrygo, and Fabrizio Romano revealed on Friday morning that the Gunners will make their move if he tells Los Blancos he wants to depart.
“Rodrygo is one of the dreams for Arsenal,” the transfer guru said on the Here We Go Podcast.
“In order to make the deal happen, Rodrygo needs to go & tell Real Madrid, ‘I want to leave’. He has the power to decide. If he asks to be sold, Arsenal will be in the conversation, for sure.”
If Rodrygo continues to be sidelined in the Club World Cup, then it’d be more surprising if he doesn’t end up telling this to Real Madrid higher-ups than not.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
