Inside Spain is a weekly installment brought to you by Football España, providing insight into all the big stories emerging from the rich and intense climes of La Liga and beyond.
It’s been a busy week in Spanish football, and it’s set to get even busier as an extra Clásico and an extra Madrid derby have been added to the calendar. And then there is Kylian Mbappé.
Real Madrid faced Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey, which means there will be three derbies in three weeks, including next week and early February in La Liga. If it’s anything like Wednesday’s 5-3 Spanish Super Cup thriller, the hosts will be in luck.
Which they did not see up close, because the Super Cup is held in Saudi Arabia: the Gulf State paid the Spanish Football Federation 40 million euros to host a four-team tournament in Riyadh. Much to the chagrin of the Spanish fans, who were taken aback by the booing of Toni Kroos and the booing of Franz Beckenbauer during a minute of silence for the recently deceased.
Real Madrid’s reward is Barcelona on Sunday night after the ailing Catalans struggled to beat Osasuna 2-0. If there was a positive side for Atlético de Madrid, it is that Antoine Griezmann became their top scorer, surpassing Luis Aragonés and reaching 174 goals.
Antoine Griezmann – #AtléticoMadrid’s all-time top scorer pic.twitter.com/1yUZBhrdcg
– Spanish Football (@footballespana_) January 11, 2024
Real Madrid is also on the hunt for a striker. The lines that come out from Madrid are that they want Mbappé, but not too much. We’re not sure if they’re trying to play it cool, but there have also been multiple rumors about Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Erling Haaland, who Jude Bellingham is reportedly trying to recruit. The result is that nothing has changed, but the Madridistas may have to prepare for another round of play.
Barcelona could also bring in Jorge Mendes as part of their staff as they have started setting up super agent duties to sell their star players. The Blaugrana are still looking for a central midfielder this winter, but first they have to take advantage of one of their financial levers, something they have been trying to do for 18 months. If they could afford it, they would really like Everton’s Amadou Onana. They may be happy to keep their stars as Bayern Munich look to spend €100m on Ronald Araujo.
Maybe the striker Real Madrid needed was right under their noses all this time? Former youth squad Borja Mayoral is back in the city of Getafe and, surprisingly, is the second top scorer in La Liga this season. Arsenal seem to think he is useful and have submitted an offer for Mayoral.
Elsewhere, Girona are furious that one of their veterans, David López, was banned for four games for calling a referee arrogant in October, suggesting they are getting too close to Real Madrid at the top of the table. Sevilla have also signed Inter midfielder Lucien Agoume on loan with an option to buy, and Villarreal have loaned Ben Brereton Díaz to Sheffield United. The reason is that they wanted to bring in Eric Bailly for free, and are now looking to also go after Wolves’ Gonçalo Guedes, who is currently on loan at Benfica.
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