Who Should Be Real Madrid's Priority in Contract Talks?
The league title is probably gone. The Copa del Rey is already gone. Only the Champions League remains.
For Real Madrid, the focus will soon shift to next season and beyond.
Indeed, after Sunday's 1-1 draw with Malaga at La Rosaleda, future planning is of the essence at the Bernabeu. Now trailing Barcelona by nine points with just 13 rounds remaining in 2015-16, Madrid have little hope of reeling in the Catalans in La Liga. Barcelona haven't lost in more than four months. No team in Spain's top division has ever overturned the deficit Madrid now face.
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"Mission impossible," said Marca.
"Real kiss the title goodbye," added AS.
Thus, outside the intermittent European fixtures, eyes will start glancing forward to the looming summer, when Madrid will look to position themselves for another title tilt in 2016-17. Contract talks for existing players will form a key part of that, but who should be the priority?
It's a slightly complex question.
Potential Transfer Ban
The possibility of a transfer ban hasn't gone away. It still lingers.
And for Madrid, it's extremely relevant for contract negotiations.
In late January, the FIFA Appeals Committee provisionally suspended the ban handed to the club (and Atletico Madrid) by the game's governing body earlier that month. Originally, Madrid had been banned from signing players in the summer of 2016 and winter of 2017, but the suspension means that could be pushed back.
Like Barcelona before them, Madrid will want to slow the process down and delay it as long as possible, allowing themselves to restructure in the coming summer before serving the transfer ban entirely in 2017. But the appeal could be heard before then; if it is and it's rejected, the original time frame of the ban will stand.
Suddenly, that would change things. Handcuffed in the transfer market, Madrid's priority would shift from buying new stars to keeping existing ones. Contracts would need to be addressed with urgency to protect the squad, while the club would also need to be mindful of the periods that would remain on players' contracts when the transfer ban ends and squad restructuring can take place.
Who's the Priority?
Before attempting to answer that, it's useful to outline the contract expiry dates for each of the 22 players in Real Madrid's senior squad.
They are as follows:
| June 30, 2016 | Alvaro Arbeloa |
| Ruben Yanez | |
| June 30, 2017 | Pepe |
| Jese | |
| June 30, 2018 | Luka Modric |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | |
| Isco | |
| June 30, 2019 | Karim Benzema |
| Gareth Bale | |
| June 30, 2020 | Kiko Casilla |
| Marcelo | |
| Nacho | |
| Dani Carvajal | |
| Lucas Vazquez | |
| Toni Kroos | |
| Keylor Navas | |
| James Rodriguez | |
| Sergio Ramos | |
| Raphael Varane | |
| June 30, 2021 | Casemiro |
| Danilo | |
| Mateo Kovacic |
In the coming summer, the contracts of both Ruben Yanez and Alvaro Arbeloa will expire, but neither will be a priority at the Bernabeu. Yanez is the club's third-choice goalkeeper; Arbeloa is a 33-year-old right-back who hasn't made a single league start this season.
Instead, the focus will be beyond those two expiring deals.
As things stand, both Jese and Pepe will reach the end of their current contracts in the summer of 2017, but by that time, Pepe will be 34. After signing a two-year extension at the beginning of the season, the Portuguese is unlikely to get another deal.
Jese, however, will be in the minds of the Real Madrid hierarchy. If the transfer ban arrives this summer, the club will need the young forward and will want to extend his deal. But even if the ban is late in coming, a new contract for Jese is important even if his future in the Spanish capital is unclear.
At just 22, the Canary Islander carries genuine value in the transfer market. By the summer, though, he'll have just 12 months remaining on his current agreement; Madrid rarely let contracts run down in such fashion and any negotiating position will be weaker than it would be otherwise. On the contract timeline, the similarly valuable and youthful Isco is only another 12 months further back.
And yet, somewhat oddly, Madrid's priority is likely to be—and should be—a player (or players) already tied to the club for much longer.
At present, Gareth Bale's deal at the Bernabeu runs until June 2019. Such a date may sound distant, but Madrid typically don't allow the contracts of stars to run into their final two years—a stance that will have been reinforced by the uncomfortable strength of Sergio Ramos' negotiating position when approaching such a juncture last summer.
Of course, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric will reach that two-year-out juncture themselves this June, but with both men in their 30s, the length of their futures at the club will be dependent on whether the transfer ban arrives in the summer. Decisions will need to wait.
For Bale, however, a decision doesn't. Still only 26, the Welshman this term has recovered from a tumultuous second season at Madrid to establish himself as a future leader of Los Blancos. Extending his deal beyond 2019 should be a priority.
James Rodriguez is similar.
Though 2015-16 has been a difficult campaign for the Colombian, he still carries immense potential. The club, according to Marca, also has a commitment to review James' contract this summer:
"At the time of the deal, club directors made it clear to the former Monaco schemer and his agent, Jorge Mendes, that after two seasons, the contract would be reviewed, with the aim of improving the current 5-million-euro-a-year deal he has with the club.
With this in mind, Mendes spoke to the club a couple of months ago, reminding them of their promise. Comparisons were used between what James earns and the wages commanded by some of his teammates, such as Gareth Bale and Sergio Ramos - who are both on 10 million a year, double the Colombian's salary - as leverage in the discussions, together with the level of performances put in by the forward.
"
Even though James' current contract runs until 2020, securing the future spine of the team needs to be a priority at the Bernabeu. After a sparkling debut season, James will be part of that. Now emerging as a dominant figure, Bale will too.
Though others have contracts running out sooner, Bale and James likely will be—and should be—the ones who are locked down first.
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