Real Madrid have taken a shine to a midfielder who had a verbal agreement to join Manchester United in the summer transfer window, according to a Spanish report, as Los Blancos’ cheeky plan to bring him to the Santiago Bernabeu comes to light.
Man Utd and Real Madrid are two of the biggest clubs in the world and are global brands. Both Madrid and Man Utd were busy in the summer transfer window, as they aim to bounce back from last season’s disappointment and have a successful 2025/26 campaign.
Madrid secured the services of Dean Huijsen, Alvaro Carreras, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Franco Mastantuono, while Man Utd manager Ruben Amorim signed Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, Senne Lammens and Diego Leon in the summer.
Man Utd were also keen on signing a midfielder in the summer transfer window, with Javi Guerra one of their targets.
Journalist Daniele Longo went as far as to claim on X that Man Utd had a verbal agreement in place with Guerra over a move to Old Trafford in the summer transfer window.
The CalcioMercato reporter, who has almost 150,000 followers on X, at 10:51pm on July 17: “Topic Javi Guerra: the Spain midfielder heading towards a no to renewal with Valencia.
“He has a verbal agreement with Man Utd, agreement between the clubs still pending.
“Two other inquiries from Spain and England. Milan still at the June contacts, working slowly on Jashari.”
Man Utd eventually missed out on the signing of Guerra, who signed a new contract with his club Valencia until the summer of 2029.
It has now emerged in the Spanish media that Real Madrid have taken a shine to Guerra and are going to keep tabs on the 22-year-old midfielder this summer.
Defensa Central, a Real Madrid-centric website, has reported that Madrid chief scout Juni Calafat will monitor Guerra in the upcoming months and will make a decision on his future in 2026.
The report has noted that Guerra’s new contract has a release clause of €100million (£86.5m, $117m), but Valencia ‘would agree’ to sell the youngster for half of that fee due to their ‘financial problems’.
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Real Madrid plan Javi Guerra – Dani Ceballos swap deal
Even for a club as big and wealthy as Real Madrid, paying €100m ((£86.5m, $117m) or even half of that sum for a 22-year-old midfielder is not something that is taken lightly.
According to a separate report in Defensa Central, Madrid would love to swap Guerra for Ceballos.
Ceballos does not feature prominently in Madrid manager Xabi Alonso’s plans and is out of contract at the Spanish and European giants in the summer of 2027.
The problem for Real Madrid is that, at the moment, neither Valencia nor Ceballos will accept such a swap deal.
For Valencia owner Peter Lim, selling Guerra for cash is more important than a straight swap.
Juventus have been linked with Ceballos, with the Italian media reporting that the Serie A giants will monitor the former Arsenal loanee in the coming months.
Ceballos had the chance to join Marseille in the summer transfer window, but the Spanish midfielder decided to stay at Los Blancos.
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Who is Javi Guerra?
By Ben Mattinson
Javi Guerra is an elegant yet powerful midfielder, who oozes class and composure on the ball and has the power and stamina to travel box-to-box all game, covering a high amount of ground and being effective in all phases. At 6ft 2in, Guerra has a real presence but it’s his technique that’s most impressive.
As a rangy Spanish midfielder at that height, people’s lazy comparisons would be to Sergio Busquets, or the fact he’s called Javi could make them think of Javi Martínez. But in actual fact he’s much more mobile than both of them. A true athlete.
Guerra is such a strong ball-carrier. Despite his lanky frame, he has quick feet and is a good dribbler in tight spaces. He is smooth in the way he carries the ball. He just glides past the opposing midfield in style, often using ball rolls or acute movements like flicks to turn past them.
He adds verticality to Valencia’s midfield through his ability to powerfully drive up-field and take on players to help Valencia enter the final third.
One of Guerra’s most impressive abilities is his long-range shooting. On both his right and left foot he has scored some top-quality goals with great precision and power. His long legs allow him to generate more power when striking the ball.
As a Spanish midfielder, it’s not a surprise to see how good Guerra’s passing ability is – particularly his long passing. Guerra has a good technique on clipped passes and crosses. When wide or in the half-spaces he can be a source of quality crosses to create chances.
Guerra has good positioning as he often is in the right place out of position to provide a mid-block or anticipate passes but specifically when tackling. He doesn’t go to ground often because he’s usually positioned well and doesn’t need to. But when he does, he times his tackles well.
Physically Guerra is strong in duels too, especially as he’s got such a tall frame. He does lack aggression and intensity in duels though, he’s almost too nice off the ball at times. As he develops this, he’ll be even better defensively.
Guerra is a calm, composed player in both his personality and play-style. This level-headedness and composure enables him to have good decision-making on the pitch. Hopefully this translates off the pitch and he gets the timing and the destination of his next move right.