New reports have confirmed that Rodrygo has indicated he wants to stay at Real Madrid this summer, despite the club’s willingness to move him on.
Guillermo Rai reports for The Athletic that though Real Madrid and Xabi Alonso are both open to Rodrygo leaving the club this summer, there haven’t been any developments on a potential exit.
In fact, Rai adds that sources close to the player have claimed that Rodrygo has indicated he wants to stay at his current club.
Yet Mario Cortegana reports for the same outlet that sources close to Real Madrid’s coaching staff are suggesting that Alonso and his team aren’t entirely happy with Rodrygo.
The player is also working with agent Pini Zahavi this summer, perhaps indicating a transfer is still possible.
This is the second report in recent days to suggest that Rodrygo has informed Real Madrid he wants to stay at the club, with a Madrid source telling La Vanguardia the same thing last week.
Part of the issue is seemingly that no clear buyer is emerging for Rodrygo. Arsenal would need to sell before they could buy, PSG have denied having any interest, Liverpool are focusing on Alexander Isak, and Rodrygo has no interest in joining Spurs.
Unless the Gunners make sudden and unexpected progress on the sale of Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Martinelli, or Isak decides to stay at Newcastle United, there’s no obvious buyer for the Real Madrid winger.
Rodrygo played 54 times for Real Madrid last season, scoring 14 goals and assisting a further 11. But the player has looked out of favour under Alonso so far, making just one start and two substitute appearances in six games at the Club World Cup.
Even so, if the 24-year-old is keen to stay and fight for his spot in Madrid, that’s only going to make it even harder for Arsenal to secure a transfer this summer.