Spanish Inquisition: The Case For Alvaro Negredo

In light of Esteban Granero’s return to Real Madrid, Goal.com’s Cyrus C. Malek argues why Madrid would also do well to retain youth product Alvaro Negredo for the upcoming Liga campaign…

Jul 24, 2009 11:50:54 AM

More On :  Real Madrid CF, Negredo
Negredo - Cannavaro - Almeria-Real Madrid (Marca)

Real Madrid seem to have a knack for scouting some of the best footballing talent in the world. Unfortunately though, in contrast to the players who come up through Barcelona’s youth system, that talent rarely finds success in the Madrid first team, for some inexplicable reason flourishing elsewhere.

The list of players who have come through the Madrid system only to become world class players elsewhere is astounding. Samuel Eto’o, Alvaro Arbeloa, and Juan Mata have all become among the best in their respective positions, while players like Getafe’s Roberto Soldado, Espanyol’s Luis Garcia, and Atletico Madrid’s Jose Manuel Jurado have become leading figures in their respective teams after having their mettle half-heartedly tested at the Bernabeu.
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It seems as if fate itself is working against Madrid youth players, as even when such players of exceptional talent are brought back to the Bernabeu, mitigating circumstances prevent them from succeeding in the first team — the principal example of course being Ruben De La Red who, after serving in Spain’s Euro 2008-winning squad, was touted as one of the best rising midfield talents on the Iberian Peninsula.

But unfortunately, a freak cardiovascular accident that led to the young starlet fainting on the pitch last season has since ruled De La Red out of any and all footballing activities for the foreseeable future and thus Madrid were forced to lose another home-grown player of great promise.

Last season, another Madrid youth product consistently made headlines with his performances at Hugo Sanchez’s Almeria. Leading the Andalusian side to an 11th place finish, Alvaro Negredo broke out as one of the up-and-coming young talents of the Spanish game and finished with 19 goals, an extraordinarily impressive feat for someone playing in a mid-table side.

Such performances did not go unnoticed as there was a public outcry that the striker was not called up into Vicente Del Bosque’s Spanish national team, and this summer, Real Madrid wisely chose to exercise their  €5 million buy-back option and brought Negredo back to the Spanish capital.

This summer, with the policies of Florentino Perez’s second Galactico era, Madrid made a very vocal push for a top-class striker and in an effort to espanolizar —‘Hispansize’— the club, made a strong push for Valencia star David Villa. Had Villa signed for Madrid, the Merengue faithful would have had their star Spaniard, allowing the local fans to feel more solidarity with a squad that was already filled with foreign talent.

But as Valencia insisted upon an astronomical transfer fee for the immensely talented Villa, Madrid began to pursue other avenues, instead securing the signature of the dynamic Karim Benzema — giving Florentino his coveted ‘number 9’ style striker, although not one of Spanish descent.

While the talent/nationality trade-off is irrelevant for a player of Benzema’s undeniably exceptional ability, Madrid now employ four point-style strikers— Benzema, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, and Negredo (Raul and Higuain are discounted because both players are more suited to the ‘second striker’ position situated slightly behind the point man). Of these four strikers, it is very likely that at least two will be shown the door before La Liga kicks off against Deportivo La Coruna in the Bernabeu. And it is with these anticipated exits in mind that Alvaro Negredo should be given strong consideration for a spot in this very exciting Madrid squad.

At only 23 years old, Negredo is a looming presence in the box. As if his 6-foot frame (1.86 metres) was not imposing enough, the man is extraordinarily strong, able to fend off defenders of comparable stature with relative ease and packing a powerful shot in his boots that makes him a viable threat from a variety of positions on the pitch. The 19 goals he scored for Almeria last season were of every variety and were all the more impressive considering the level of talent surrounding the Spaniard. But it is not just Negredo’s goalscoring instinct that makes him such a valuable asset, but his work off the ball.

Unlike Van Nistelrooy and Huntelaar who are more static and do not stray too far away from the penalty box, Negredo is a dynamic player, frequently coming back into the midfield to receive a pass in order to maintain the offence’s flow or draw defenders out with him and clear space for his team-mates (in this way, he is not too different from Villa). His work ethic is so commendable that in Madrid’s first week of training alone, Negredo has already stood out as one of the hardest working in the squad.

His strength allows him to contribute to the build-up of play as he is able to hold the ball long enough to allow his team-mates to join in — a quality very much favoured in Manuel Pellegrini’s 4-2-2-2 style offence. An adept player both dribbling and passing the ball, Negredo is also capable of running at opponents and picking out his team-mates — a trait he exhibited to wonderful effect in his time at Almeria, most notably with an absolutely sublime cross-field ball to team-mate Mane against Pellegrini’s own Villarreal.

Finally, Negredo is a Madrid youth product, thus immediately gaining him fan favour both for his club allegiances and his nationality. Should he continue to improve in Real Madrid’s squad, he could eventually earn that international cap, thus eliciting more fan support and giving Madridistas a sense of local pride to accompany their largely cosmopolitan squad.

Economically of course, Negredo seems like an attractive bargaining chip. Having spent an astronomical amount of money on the signatures of Kaka, Raul Albiol, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Benzema, Madrid are in desperate need of recouping some of that capital and Negredo is already rumoured to fetch a high price (an offer of  €20 million is already reportedly on the table from Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur).

But the value Madrid could potentially obtain from Negredo in a Madrid shirt for the long-term could far exceed his current market value and with Huntelaar already heavily linked with an exit from the Spanish club and Van Nistelrooy recovering from a major injury to his 33-year-old knee, Madrid might do better to offload the two Dutchmen and retain the Spaniard. With players like Negredo in the squad along with other Madrid youth products like Iker Casillas, Miguel Torres, and now Esteban Granero, Madridistas could find that although their side is stacked with some of the most expensive talent in the world, they have still remained very close to home.   

Cyrus C. Malek, Goal.com
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