Manchester United are looking for a Casemiro replacement and one of the finest ball-winning midfielders in La Liga is likely to be available for absolutely nothing this summer.
If the early signs are anything to go by, the revamped approach to recruitment in the Ineos era will revolve around exciting, up-and-coming and potentially homegrown talent. Jarrad Branthwaite and Michael Olise are already emerging as leading targets, while incoming technical director Dan Ashworth reportedly is a big fan of Crystal Palace’s England international centre-half Marc Guehi.
But if Manchester United’s new decision-makers are making this the rule, then perhaps Guido Rodriguez can be the exception.
Manchester United handed Guido Rodriguez chance
Andalusian publication Estadio Deportivo reported a few weeks before Christmas that there was interest from the Old Trafford outfit in the Real Betis enforcer, an Argentina international with a £68 million release clause in his contract.
That clause is now destined to go un-triggered. In fact, Betis are facing up to the very real prospect of losing Rodriguez for absolutely nothing, his deal expiring in July and an extension seemingly a long way off.
“Well, you know that he is an important player for us,” Betis president Angel Haro tells Marca. “We made him an offer, an offer that has (now) expired.
“If he wants to continue in the club, we will have to sit down again and talk. Whether he continues to be at Betis or not, I am sure that he will give every last effort to try to get the team as high (up the table) as possible.
“The days go by…” Haro adds, the Verdiblancos chief hardly sounding like a man confident of returning Rodriguez’s services. “Football is like that.
“When a player has less than six months left and you have been trying to renew for a year and the agent does not want, you may think that he is not renewing.”
It’s not all good news
Now, if this sounds too good to be true – a World Cup-winning, £68 million La Liga star available on a free – then there are a few downsides that must be taken into consideration. Perhaps the biggest factor working against Rodriguez is his age. Turning 30 in April, he is only two years Casemiro’s junior.
Less a long-term replacement, then, and more a medium-term solution.
Furthermore, he has missed the last three months with an ankle fracture. Albeit one the two-time Mexican League Midfielder of the Year is set to recover from sooner rather than later.
Guido also averaged the most tackles per game in La Liga last season (3.4, WhoScored). But those figures have dipped substantially this term. Is he in the midst of a Casemiro-like decline? A player past his peak and who’s energy reserves are running low?
Rodriguez, with no transfer fee required, is certainly an opportunity worth considering. And, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe bringing a host of ‘best in class’ appointments to Old Trafford, you can probably back a Manchester United side under new leadership to make the right decision.
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