The four months that Franco Mastantuono contributes real Madrid They had an untypical dynamic for a footballer 18 years which is incorporated most successful club in the world. The logical thing would have been a progressive adaptation, a gradual immersion in an unknown and highly demanding environment, the ex-River that amazed the coach Xabi Alonso From the conversations before he was hired, it was clear that he immediately attracted attention with significant participation and then faded into the background, which was pushed far more into the background in the consideration. And now?
At first everything was very dizzying. Real Madrid had to wait until August 14th for him to come of age to officially introduce him. He made his debut five days later, appearing in the final 22 minutes for the first time in a 1-0 win over Osasuna League. His first appearance five days later, in a 3-0 win against Oviedo.
Mastantuono was assigned the position far right, with a logical tendency to close and clear the path inside due to its left-handed profile. The technical director was also convinced by the use of Azuleño to put pressure on the ball recovery, a responsibility that Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius ignore. In modern football, it is a very big handicap that two players cannot fulfill common tasks.
In the first two months, Mastantuono was controversial 599 minutes in 11 games, with relative and discontinuous effects (a goal to Levant and an assistance to Kairat Amaty, for the Champions League). Alonso took a risk for him, perhaps rashly, accelerating the processes beyond the child’s maturity, which surprised the coach from the first moment. “It’s his little right eye.” The Spanish press wrote more than once about the attraction that Mastantuono had on the coach.
Mastantuono’s only goal at Real Madrid
Until the breaking points came. Firstly, the substitution without playing in the 2-1 win against Barcelona in the league classic. He was left out of what was at that point the most important game of the season. And secondly, that Pubalgia that moved with flow from the Club World Cup and that forced him to stop treatment and undergo slightly longer recovery treatment.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid as a team began to disappoint the fans who were in the Santiago Bernabeu They often whistle. He stuck to the parades of Thibaut Courtois and Mbappé’s goals. And Alonso’s profile worsened. First publicly, with a strong rudeness from Vinicius when he was substituted against Barcelona without the club’s support of the technical director. And then internally, in the dressing room, with some members of the team who disapprove of his distant management style, in contrast to the closeness suggested by Carlo Ancelotti.
There was a destabilizing climate around Alonso. Various media in Spain do not rule out a dismissal If Real Madrid takes a wrong step Spanish Super Cup, in which he will compete against the on January 8th Atlético de Madrid in one semi-final, with Barcelona-Athletic Bilbao in the other semi-final. He is on a tightrope. So far we have never heard a word of support from the president Florentino Perez.
In the midst of this context there is Mastantuono’s most uncertain time. Over the last two months, he played just 157 minutes spread over three games. Very little activity. He sat on the bench in five games without taking part. He began to develop more continuity in his position Rodrygo, that uses the experience of playing under pressure and being decisive at Real Madrid.
In his last appearance in 2025, Mastantuno only had a slightly better lead in the Copa del Rey round of 16 against Talavera (third division). The kind of game where coaches rotate. Even against an inferior rival, he was unable to stand out, and an image remained that perhaps illustrates his state of aloofness and insecurity: He grabbed a ball with both hands while he was two meters into the field, thought he was outside. Unusual. He played 66 minutes, with one shot on goal and one crucial flaw: not a single dribble.
He wasn’t always in control of his character. The press pointed out two nervous reactions: an argument with Alaba over the taking of a free kick that required Militão to intervene, and a wry gesture towards Alonso when he was substituted against Espanyol.
Mastantuono is not to blame for anything, but could even be a victim of improper leadership by Alonso. He gave him a hint too quickly and now he keeps him in the pits, also because the coach’s scope has been reduced to take risks with his own bets, as Mastantuono was too.
Footballers who joined Real Madrid under the age of 20 went through a rather slow process; Arda Güler Only now did he gain more title status and Endrick He has just been loaned out to Olympique Lyonnais. Although the 45 million euros The fact that Real Madrid paid River for his transfer is an indicator of a player’s integration into a superior team, his football education has things pending that he could have completed with a few games in the Castilla reserve team.
Real Madrid’s window reveals a lot and leaves no opportunity unused. Land that has been given away is difficult to get back. He knows it Nicolás Paz (21 years old), founded in the white youth academy, with a few sporadic appearances in the first league and transferred there for six million euros with the option to buy back As, where he experienced a footballing growth spurt in a season and a half, with 9 goals and 11 assists in 35 games. Real Madrid has already decided to implement the buyback option for 9 million next June.
For Paz, this turn in his career brings him closer to his goal with growth and development World Cup 2026 and reinforces the good concept Lionel Scaloni has from him. Mastantuono also received special recognition from the Argentine team’s coach, who made him the youngest debutant in an official game when he played in the last six minutes of the playoffs against Chile.
Mastantuono was caught in the dilemma in which Alonso put him, the coach who, despite so many doubts, is no longer convinced to give him the confidence from the start, with the aggravating factor that, in the event of his dismissal, the Argentine could become even more invisible with the coach who arrives a semester before the World Cup.
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