Mariano, failed return

The return of Mariano Madrid has had something dire. Your recent positive for coronavirus is the cherry on a year to forget: will not be against Manchester City (The game is in ten days and now he will have to be in quarantine for 14). Unless the whites manage to overcome and their viral recovery is fast, He will not play this season again and probably will not wear the Madrid shirt again, since the club is counting on him to find a team and leave. Until now, he had refused to do so.

At this point, a count can be made. Mariano has only played 91 minutes this season between all competitions, never being a starter and scoring a goal, the miraculous against Barcelona in the Classic of the second round. It does not count, but despite this -as AS advanced- refuses to leave. He wants to continue on target.

He signed for the Lyon in 2017 and highlighted: 45 games in which he scored 21 goals. It came to sound even for the selection. It was high up and seemed to have exploded, so Madrid exercised the “right of first refusal” and recovered it in 2018, taking it away from a Sevilla that had signed his signing. He won the game over Raúl De Tomás in preseason, staying at the Bernabéu, but without any shine.

From there his downhill until a failed return is consummated. Last season their numbers were somewhat better, playing 13 games and scoring three goals. Numbers far from what was expected, but notably higher than this year. Madrid is looking for an exit, but he does not want to leave.

Only 22 'post quarantine

Their numbers after the break are gray. He has played in three games of the eleven played: Real Sociedad, Mallorca and Getafe. The bulk of his minutes were before the txuri urdines, when he disputed 13 '. Then he played 8 ' against Mallorca. In both games he entered replacing Benzema. The last time he was seen on a pitch was on matchday 33, against Getafe, playing only one', enough to see a yellow card. He has not scored any goals or given any assistance.

Your salary, a problem

Mariano charges around € 4.5 million net per season, an economic amount unattainable for many clubs. With contract until 2023, in this new window Madrid will try to sell you, but it is difficult to find a team that agrees to take over your file. To this must be added the will of the footballer, entrenched in his posture to stay, despite knowing that he is not available.