19-year-old Real Madrid gem having a rather mixed 2024-25 season – Analysis

In the last few years, there have been significant changes in this Real Madrid team, as the Merengues continue to move on from their legendary team that marked one of the most successful eras in the history of the club in the last decade.

From the team that won the three-peat under Zinedine Zidane, only Luka Modric, Lucas Vazquez, and Dani Carvajal, still remain, while the rest of the stars have all left.

However, Real Madrid have been keen to ensure these departing stars have been adequately replaced in the squad, as Los Blancos have made some other world-class additions to their team in these last few years, including the likes of Jude Bellingham, Antonio Rudiger, and Kylian Mbappe, etc.

These players are already making an impact on the team, but the Merengues have also brought in some players with an eye on the future, and a shining example of such a player has been the Turkish gem, Arda Guler.

He arrived at Real Madrid in the summer of 2023 but struggled with injuries in the first half of the season. He got the chance to show his talents only at the tail end of the season, as the Merengues wrapped up the La Liga title early, and Carlo Ancelotti gave him a lot of chances to impress in the final few games.

In this stretch of games, the youngster showed incredible scoring and technical ability, raising hopes among the fans for a more prominent role in the team for this season.

There is no doubt that his prominence has actually increased in the team, even though he has not really started as many games as some people would have wanted. In total, he has 14 appearances in La Liga, 6 of them from the start, while in the UCL he has only 1 start in 5 appearances.

However, despite this increased prominence in the team, Guler has not been scoring as much as he was expected to. With one half of the season played, the Turk has scored only 1 goal in La Liga, while he is yet to open his scoring account in the UCL.

He also has 3 assists to his name in the domestic competition, 2 of which came only in the game against Rayo Vallecano, while in the UCL he is yet to make his first assist in a Real Madrid shirt.

His numbers in La Liga could have been even better, as Sofascore data shows that he has missed two big chances up to now and his goal-conversion rate stands at only 5%. But he has been better in the build-up phase, having created 4 big chances up to now, and providing 1.4 key passes in every game on average. Similarly, his passing success rate also stands at 89%.

Guler has also contributed well to the defence whenever he has stepped on the pitch, as he averages 1.1 tackles and recovers 1.9 balls every game.

Real Madrid face a highly hectic January, in which they will kick off their Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup campaigns, while also continuing their La Liga and UCL campaigns. His minutes on the pitch are thus expected to increase as Ancelotti will look to keep all his players fresh and in competitive rhythm, and hopefully, he will be able to showcase his actual quality in this second half of the season.