Real Madrid too smart to sell Camavinga to Liverpool
Reports linking Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga to Liverpool must rank as one of the strangest pieces of football transfer news to emerge during this January window.
Camavinga was bought by Real Madrid for €31 million, plus a potential €14m more in bonuses, from Rennes in the summer and has been billed as a star of the future in midfield.
The France international made an explosive start at the Bernabeu, scoring on his La Liga debut against Celta Vigo and getting an assist for the club on his first Champions League appearance for them against Inter.
It was a high bar to set, particularly given that he was coming off a tricky season in France and was joining a club far bigger than the one he had previously turned out for.
Camavinga a long-term option at Madrid
Since then, there has been something of a sentiment of disappointment. This has been reflected in Camavinga’s increasingly sparse use by head coach Carlo Ancelotti, who is not noted for being a figure to put any great faith in youth.
As a result, El Nacional has linked Camavinga with a move to Liverpool, where a refresh in their midfield options are required.
Madrid, though, cannot have been so short-termist to have signed Camavinga in the summer with the belief that Camavinga would have instantly won a place in the starting XI.
Rather, the logical thinking behind the Bernabeu’s move to sign the teenager was as a long-term replacement to the likes of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos or Casemiro, all of whom are the wrong side of 30 and must start to decline at some point.
Camavinga, then, is still very much in the early days of his bedding in process at Real Madrid, and dumping him at this juncture cannot be an option that the Primera Division leaders are giving serious consideration.