Matteo Moretto Transfer Column: Miguel Gutierrez, Ferland Mendy and Real Madrid to work on position group

Matteo Moretto gives Football España exclusive information on the latest deals dominating the papers in Spain, as revealed in Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing.

Carlo Ancelotti’s role in Ferland Mendy contract renewal

As we have discussed before, from day one, Carlo Ancelotti has communicated very clearly to the Real Madrid President Florentino Perez that he wanted to be able to rely on Ferland Mendy. It’s been priority for him, and he loves him as a player. Ancelotti pushed hard for the new deal, and has played a key role in making it happen.

Not just in terms of Real Madrid either, but also Mendy. Nobody wants to leave Real Madrid, but if you’re not playing and it’s not clear if you’re wanted, the natural reaction is to consider your options, and contemplate an exit. Mendy never got to that point because Ancelotti convinced him that he was his guy.

The fact that Real Madrid did not go all out for Alphonso Davies this summer is a clear sign of the fact they believe in Mendy too. There was a chance that Los Blancos could have gone for Davies and maybe got a deal done with Bayern Munich, but with Mendy there, they did not need to. The Canadian is still a target as a free agent for next summer, but Mendy has the trust of Ancelotti and of the club.

Mendy was also sounded out by Saudi Arabia, as we’ve reported, but Ancelotti ensured that never went anywhere.

Four teams showed interest in Girona’s Miguel Gutierrez and the one made an offer

Girona left-back Miguel Gutierrez was one of the best in Spain last season, and it is no surprise that teams were interested in him this summer. It’s also worth remembering that Real Madrid have an €8m buyback clause for Gutierrez.

In Italy, Bologna presented a formal offer, and they enquired a lot about him, but did not manage to make any progress with it. Gutierrez had a few doubts, and Bologna went for Juan Miranda of Real Betis instead.

Gutierrez did attract interest from Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich though too, but no official offer arrived from those teams. The opportunity to play in the Champions League with Girona, continue showing his quality there this year, perhaps with a view to an exit next year, was the decision that they came to.

Real Madrid will be thinking about their midfield for next summer

Firstly, and importantly, we have to note that it is much too soon to have a real idea of how they will act or who they might go for next summer. But it’s true that midfield is an area of the pitch that they may have to address in 2025, so it would make sense that they are considering their options now.

Veteran Luka Modric renewed his deal for another year in the summer, but they will have to see where they are at with him next summer. He has already become less important last year than he was before. We’ve previously reported that Dani Ceballos wants to play a bigger role too. It’s quite possible that they are working on a strengthening their midfield for next year, I would say they may be looking at similar profiles to Kroos and Modric for next summer.

Matteo Moretto will be back with more transfer news in the coming days, providing exclusive information on the biggest stories in Spain and Italy.

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