After 184 long days, 25 games watched from the sidelines and countless hours in the club’s all-too-familiar treatment facility, Arda Guler finally made his competitive debut for Real Madrid.
A knee injury during his first weeks at the club immediately derailed Guler’s summer transfer from Turkish side Fenerbahce. The subsequent six months have been a tortuous series of setbacks with Guler cast in the role of football’s Sisyphus; continuously rolling his boulder up a hill only to tweak a muscle before he got to the top.
Mercifully, that purgatory ended on Saturday night as Guler started for Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey, Spain’s major domestic cup competition, against fourth-tier Arandina.
Here’s how Guler fared as Madrid cruised to a 3-1 win in Aranda.
“This kid is promising,” the Madrid sports daily Marca noted with an unusually restrained headline. For once, the club’s manager Carlo Ancelotti was more effusive than the Spanish press. After watching his 59-minute showing, the veteran Italian coach claimed Guler “has everything you need to play for Real Madrid”.
Lining up on the right wing of Madrid’s 4-3-3, Guler repeatedly floated infield on his stronger left foot. In front of 6,000 fans at El Montecillo, a crowd which included his parents, Guler’s craft was evident but so too was his confidence.
Comfortable taking aim with either foot, Guler pirouetted onto his right side in the opening quarter-hour, drilling a low shot from inside the box which Adrian Alvarez beat away.
When Real Madrid earned a free-kick in the 18th minute, Guler brushed off the advances of his senior colleague Dani Ceballos to fire off his own attempt. The self-belief was well placed, with Guler’s curling effort clanking off the top of the post.
“Yes, he has personality and character,” Ancelotti sagely nodded post-game. “That’s good. He stands out with his quality, but character is an important thing to do well at Real Madrid.”
Given the ease with which he floated across the pitch, nonchalantly prodding the ball between opponents’ legs with the outside of his boot, Guler took Joselu’s advice. “Before the game, I told him to enjoy it above all,” the grizzled striker revealed. “He’s been out for a long time. It’s the first time he’s played with us, and it isn’t easy. But he’s a young boy who we’re looking after, who has a lot of quality. We have to make the most of him.”
Unfortunately for Guler, Nico Paz couldn’t make the most of the cross the Turkish teenager landed on his head on the cusp of half-time, spooning a close-range effort over the bar.
Despite Guler’s best efforts, the game was still goalless at the interval. A quick-fire double from Joselu and Brahim Diaz established Madrid’s unassailable lead before a clearly fatigued Guler was subbed off.
“We have to be patient with him,” Ancelotti warned. “He showed his quality in the first half. The important thing is that he’s back, although he has to improve his physique and intensity.”
Fenerbahce had inserted a €17.5m (£15m) release clause into Guler’s contract before he enjoyed his breakthrough season last term. Real Madrid were one of several teams intrigued by the cut-price prodigy and tabled a bid above the obligatory figure to signal how highly Guler was valued in the capital.
Arch-rivals Barcelona matched Guler’s buyout clause and had secured personal terms with the player before Madrid piled in with a €20m (£17.2m) offer. Barcelona president Joan Laporta admitted the club’s strained finances simply couldn’t stretch that far and conceded a bitter defeat.
Guler was injured for the first Clasico of the season but could get on the pitch when the clubs face off in April. The reigning La Liga champions should prove to be stiffer opposition than the side sat bottom of the Spanish fourth tier.
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