Why Real Madrid should regret selling Mariano to Lyon

Jordan Russell (@JordRuss96)
18 dic 2017

Eyebrows were raised when Real Madrid opted to sell Mariano Díaz to Lyon in during the same summer in which they allowed Álvaro Morata to join Chelsea. Surely it meant Los Blancos were closing in on a deal to sign a world class number 9 who would allow them to reach new heights this season. Neither materialised; no striker arrived, while Zinedine Zidane’s players certainly have not taken their game to another level.

Florentino Pérez has frequently spoken of how frustrated he is by his club’s failure to sign any stars during the last transfer window, and has vowed to never let it happen again. Presumably, one of the president’s main regrets must be letting the aforementioned Mariano continue his career in Ligue 1 under the tutelage of Bruno Génésio. Some might say his dismissal of the 24-year-old’s talents has proved to be a costly mistake.

Having scored Les Gones’ second goal during last night’s 2-0 win over Marseille at the Groupama Stadium, the Spanish-born Dominican centre-forward took his tally to 13 league goals for the season. How his former side could be doing with someone of his ilk, given that Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more than three times as many goals as any of his teammates have so far. He has 15, while Marco Asensio, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Isco are all stuck on 4.

Even the main man himself – CR7 – has looked off the boil at times during the first half of the campaign, and so the team could really have done with someone to share that goalscoring burden. Since moving to France, Mariano has proved he is capable of shouldering responsibility within what is also a very pressurised footballing environment.

After several stuttering performances which have left their side trailing leaders Barcelona by 11 points, albeit having played a game less, many Real Madrid fans will be looking at their team’s transfer dealings and wondering what could have been done better. Allowing Mariano to stay, fight for his place and let him do what he does best may well be one of the club’s biggest mistakes in recent years. As for Lyon, they are only too glad to be reaping the benefits of his sublime goalscoring form.