Real Madrid have one of the most talented prospects in world football in Arda Guler, who burst onto the scene in his first season as a Madridista with 6 goals in just 373 LaLiga minutes for the Merengues.
Guler then made an even bigger name for himself with a stellar performance at Euro 2024 for Turkey, scoring a goal and two assists in the tournament with 1.6 key passes and 1.4 dribbles completed per game.
Because of his excellent goal-scoring record in his first season with Real Madrid and his strong all-around playmaking performance at a major international tournament, Guler was supposed to take on an even bigger role in his second season in the Spanish capital.
Instead, the teenage sensation has been given fewer opportunities than expected to the frustration of Guler himself, Florentino Perez, and even his own Real Madrid teammates.
That has led to so many transfer rumors swirling of clubs monitoring Guler’s situation, with even teams as big as Arsenal showing interest. And with the Arsenal links comes a feeling of deja vu, as Real Madrid lost another generational playmaker, Martin Odegaard, to the Gunners a few years ago after their legendary coach could not afford him minutes.
It feels like Guler may never be happy at Real Madrid. Even though he scored an exquisite second goal for the Merengues in their 3-0 demolition of Girona over the weekend, he remains with fewer than 500 LaLiga minutes and just one Champions League start this season despite the poor form and injuries to his teammates.
According to a report from Sky Sports Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, Bundesliga title contenders Bayer Leverkusen continue to monitor Arda Guler as a possible transfer target and were actually in on the Turkish international before he joined Real Madrid in 2023.
Leverkusen have made contacts with Guler’s representation in anticipation of a possible move in 2025, with the intention of signing him in the summer if Real Madrid become amicable to letting him go.
For the most part, the rumors seem to be only loan ones, because Real Madrid and Florentino Perez understand that Guler is generational. No matter how little Carlo uses him, Florentino isn’t interested in losing Guler.
But let’s say Guler wants to leave permanently because, like Odegaard was, he is fed up with getting less playing time than players he’s performing better than. In that case, Leverkusen might be the only team Real should consider selling him to.
You may wonder how a club like Leverkusen could entice Guler, but they are a Champions League side and have an intriguing piece that has come up often alongside Guler’s name, Florian Wirtz.
Real Madrid are the early favorites to sign Wirtz despite already having Guler as a playmaker, with many Madridistas worry that signing Wirtz for a hefty 100 million euros (or more) could spell the end for Guler, who would be further marginalized in the Real Madrid lineup.
But if Real Madrid use Guler as a makeweight to lower Wirtz’s price and significantly sweeten Leverkusen’s palate so that they reject other interested parties, then that would clearly soften the blow of losing a generational talent because that would mean signing another, more established one in Wirtz.
The motto of Real Madrid, especially under Ancelotti, is to win now. Wirtz plays into that more than Guler in the eyes of Real while still offering plenty of long-term value.
If Guler is frustrated enough to want to leave Real Madrid in 2025, then the Royal Whites might as well use him to get another world-class, U23 midfielder in their lineup.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.