I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 511: Chapter 11: Knives Drawn on the Front Line

”I’ve been playing for Real Madrid since 2007!”

”I joined the first team even half a season earlier than Chen.”

”In the 08-09 season, I was still the team’s top scorer, but now?”

After Gonzalo Higuain collided with Cristiano Ronaldo in the last game and both ended up rolling on the ground, there have been many discordant voices in the media.

On January 1, 2007, Higuain officially joined the La Liga team Real Madrid Football Club with a transfer fee of 13 million Euros, signing a contract for six and a half years until June 2013.

Back then, Higuain was presented at the Bernabeu wearing the number 20 jersey.

In the 2006-07 season, on January 11, 2007, Higuain made his debut for Real Madrid in the King’s Cup match against Real Betis.

Higuain’s first La Liga match was on January 14, 2007, against Zaragoza, where his assist helped Ruud van Nistelrooy score the only goal of the match.

On February 24, 2007, in the Atletico Madrid 1-1 Real Madrid game, Higuain scored his first goal for Real Madrid in the 62nd minute, helping the team draw the match away.

In the 2006-07 season, Higuain, alongside Real Madrid, achieved a spectacular comeback in the latter half of the league, winning the La Liga championship.

In the 2007-08 season, Chen Zhong joined Real Madrid, and Higuain performed excellently on the offensive line, his goals helping Real Madrid win the La Liga title once again.

In the 2008-09 season, during a period when Chen Zhong was sidelined, Higuain shouldered the offensive responsibilities for Real Madrid. In a match against Malaga, Higuain scored four goals, helping the ten-man Real Madrid secure a 4-3 comeback victory.

Throughout the entire 2008-09 season, Higuain scored a total of 22 goals, surpassing Raul Gonzalez’s 18 goals to become Real Madrid Team’s top scorer, ranking fifth in La Liga.

In the 2009-10 season, Real Madrid signed Negredo and Benzema, with Higuain keeping Benzema on the bench. Within limited playing time, he scored nearly 20 league goals, surpassing even Cristiano Ronaldo and Negredo, only behind the team’s top scorer Chen Zhong.

He also became the 7th youngest player in La Liga history to score 50 goals in the previous season.

Before Higuain, players like Chen Zhong, Torres, Messi, Aguero, and Illaragri all achieved the 50-goal milestone in La Liga at the age of 21.

Higuain’s affairs are simply a brief Chapter here. During these 14 days, many players have expressed some ”dissatisfaction” when talking with their close ones.

For instance, Cristiano Ronaldo is becoming more disciplined, yearning to play a more significant role at Real Madrid. In conversations with his friends like Pepe, Ronaldo mentioned, ”We have to learn how to play without Chen.”

Then there’s Negredo, a rare left-footed player in football, a scarce power center forward in Spain, good at physical confrontations. After Soldado left Real Madrid and thrived, and seeing Mata excel at Valencia, Negredo also frequently expressed to friends his desire to leave.

He doesn’t want to be just a supporting player; he wants to score goals.

But regardless of the coach, they all make him a scapegoat.

Only seeing his physical confrontation skills, wanting him as a pivot, while his other abilities are undervalued.

Moreover, the online opinion of Negredo wasn’t too friendly. Although many who understand football recognize his function, there are still those who use goal-scoring numbers to assess whether Real Madrid’s number 9 is qualified.

And clearly, to many fans, Negredo isn’t seen as a qualified number 9 player.

Some even describe him as ”the weakest number 9 in Real Madrid history.”

However, Negredo’s performance during his time at Almeria left many impressed, so there are currently several clubs in contact with him, even some Barcelona (Spain National Team) players telling Negredo that Guardiola admires him greatly.

Additionally, Premier League team Manchester City is also interested in signing Negredo.

In fact, Mourinho has also noticed the issues within the Real Madrid Team.

Since entering the 21st century, especially after Manchester United’s two-wing flying tactic succeeded, center forwards have increasingly become functional players.

They draw away defensive players, opening up space in the middle for the wingers to finish.

Mourinho also noticed some issues in the locker room, especially in the center forward position. It seems none of the current center forwards are very settled, and Mourinho has been scouting some candidates.

For instance, the first team substitute player Alvaro Morata, a tall player with notable speed, and most importantly, with no noticeable difference between his left and right foot, Mourinho thinks highly of this center forward.

Then there’s the French player Benzema!

Although embroiled in the ”PC” gate incident, during this period of contact, Benzema has given Mourinho the impression of being an upright person, quite literally an honest person.

Like someone who needs to be protected, a ”little brother” who knows his place.

However, earlier investigations suggested that Benzema seemed like someone who likes to stir up trouble, perhaps curtailed by other influences in Real Madrid’s locker room, preventing him from exploding?