Real Madrid starlet Arda Guler has not had the most straightforward time since joining the club two summers ago. After an injury-riddled first campaign, he was expected to take the next step this year, but has featured sparingly until now.
Finally though, Carlo Ancelotti appears to be giving him the chances he wants, and it has paid dividends in recent weeks. After grabbing the winner against Getafe two weeks ago, Guler came on in the Copa del Rey final and assisted Aurelien Tchouameni’s header to give them the lead. Against Celta, he again opened the scoring, and also gave an assist for Kylian Mbappe. It led many to wonder why he hasn’t been given more opportunities.
Arda Guler: On the bench and potentially on his way out
Guler has played just 1,471 minutes this season across 38 games, but only 14 of those appearances have come from starts. During those outings, he has a relatively impressive five goals and nine assists, averaging a goal contribution every 75 minutes. However going into the international break in March, Ancelotti had given him just three starts.
There was talk that Guler would be on his way out in the summer if his situation did not change, and Ancelotti responded to that by criticising his camp publicly, noting that perhaps he was not getting good advice.
Change of status in the Real Madrid squad
After the Celta game, Ancelotti was asked that exact question. Ancelotti explained that Guler had improved, and the opportunities had followed.
“It’s clear that the Guler of September isn’t the Guler of today. He’s changed a lot, including his physical profile, where he’s stronger and maintains his quality. It’s the normal progression of a young player at Real Madrid. Arda did well in the past, he’s done well this year, and he’ll do well in the coming years. He has the profile of an important player for Madrid, but I think he ‘sucked the bench’ well, it didn’t bother him, he ‘sucked it up’ well,” he told Relevo.
He also changed his tune on Guler’s advisors too.
“Two months ago I had a go at his camp, and now I have to congratulate them because they’ve done a good job.”
Guler looks set to complete the redemption arc with a starting spot in El Clasico on Sunday against Barcelona, representing a full U-turn from Ancelotti.
