Why Real Madrid Would Be Right to Sell Sami Khedira in January

Sami Khedira started a World Cup semi-final in July. He scored his team's fifth goal in a spectacular 7-1 rout. He assisted another. He was arguably the best player on the pitch. 

He's made two starts since. 

Against Cornella in the Copa del Rey. 

Few players have had a year like the German, a World Cup champion recognised as one of the continent's finest midfielders (when healthy) but stuck on the outer of the best club team on the planet. 

"The club wants him [Khedira] to sign a contract extension," Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti told Spanish radio station RNE in November, per Sky Sports. "We consider him a reliable player, who is serious and professional."

Ancelotti, of course, is a diplomat, a manager whose glittering reputation is built on the relationship he builds with his players and his ability to foster harmony in the dressing room. The Italian has never left one of his men out in the cold when addressing the microphones, and he isn't about to start with Khedira

As such, the Real Madrid boss has consistently expressed his club's desire to retain the 27-year-old.  

"We have until June to reach an agreement with him," Ancelotti said of the midfielder a month earlier in October, per the Evening Standard. "If he wants to sign an extension, the club will renew him. If not, he will leave the team at the end of the season (his contract expires in June)."

Abdeljalil Bounhar/Associated Press

But one feels Ancelotti and club president Florentino Perez should be eyeing January as the opportune window to part ways with the former Stuttgart star. And the reasoning goes beyond money. 

Look at the composition of this Real Madrid team. Look at the names of Ancelotti's stars and the stature of them. Examine the way Los Blancos play—the way they move the ball, the way they set up, the way they attack and the way they defend. The way they've achieved their dominance in 2014. 

Khedira doesn't fit. Not anywhere. He's a strong box-to-box midfielder suited to Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid, a team that played with typical Mourinho power rather than efficient finesse. 

But the current incarnation of Real is different. Markedly. 

Ancelotti has crafted an outfit of a contrasting essence. What he's achieved has been remarkable, given that the Italian's hand has been forced by the extravagance of his eccentric president's transfer business. And what he's moulded Real Madrid into doesn't cater for Khedira. 

Ancelotti's midfield is now built on efficient, pinpoint passing. Toni Kroos anchors the system, Luka Modric (when fit) controls the tempo, while James Rodriguez and Isco provide the spark. 

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But there's a key point to Real Madrid's central ensemble: they don't rush forward. Or back.

Watch Kroos, Modric and Co. closely and you'll see there's an economy to their movement. They hold their shape and positioning to ensure they perform the role of a fulcrum in this team. 

Wherever possession is won on the pitch, Ancelotti's midfield immediately distributes the ball to the rampant Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema in attack. They don't carry the ball themselves. They don't work the ball up field with a series of interchanges. Instead, they swiftly distribute it into the spaces to release the front three. 

Without possession, their movement is equally economical. Defending in a bank of four, they rarely stray far from the half-way line; the positional alterations instead come from the back four who push up and drop back as necessary. This is notable in the way Sergio Ramos and Pepe operate in a sweeper-aggressor style partnership, while Marcelo and Daniel Carvajal fly up and down the length of the sidelines. 

It means there's a subtle beauty to Real Madrid's midfield. They achieve so much by being the ultimate link between it all but do so by being efficient facilitators rather than a driving force. 

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It's why Khedira can't buy a start. He stands in contrast to the way Ancelotti has crafted this team to play.

Khedira wants to work the length of the field. Push forward. Drop back. Tackle hard. Break up moves. Carry the ball. Out-muscle opponents. 

His natural game is to drive the midfield through energy, persistence and force—exactly the qualities Ancelotti has made redundant while shaping the style of his team. 

It makes little sense, therefore, to retain the German's services. While he does bolster the team's depth, he'll never likely suit this incarnation of Real Madrid. On the field, his presence interrupts what Real Madrid aim to do. And by staying, Khedira would be letting Real Madrid interrupt his career. 

If he moves in January, the club will receive financial compensation for him (they won't next summer). Khedira, for his part, can reclaim control over his career.

It would be a win for all parties.

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