Madrid’s Plan C is called Locatelli
The Juventus player is the third player in contention for the gap in the Madrid midfield, after Bellingham and Enzo Fernández.
Madrid has clear alternatives to reinforce the midfield. Bellingham is the one they like the most, but in the offices at the Bernabéu, they are not oblivious to the difficulties and twists that the market can take and they do not neglect other options. Enzo Fernández’s great World Cup has placed the Argentinian midfielder as the main alternative to Bellingham in the Galáctico plan, but the list does not end with the world champion: the Italian Manuel Locatelli, from Juventus, is next in the line of alternatives.
The last European Championship, won by the Azzurri, put the player on Madrid’s radar, who was still at Sassuolo. The 24-year-old only started the first two games (he scored two against Switzerland, but lost his place when Verratti recovered from his knee injury), but when he played he was one of the best in Italy.
Although he is still struggling to become a firm fixture in Mancini’s eleven, his good performances in the Euros activated the radars within the scouting department. Juventus did not miss the opportunity and signed him that summer. His versatility plays in his favour: he can act both as a pivot, a position in which he usually plays at Juve; and as in interior midfielder, where he performs with the Azzurri over Jorginho.
In any case, Enzo Fernández is preferred if Bellingham’s option does not end up coming to fruition. The 21-year-old Argentinian international made the leap to Europe last summer and since he signed for Benfica he has had a few months in a football dreamland.
He made his debut with the national team in September and was one of the sensations in the Champions League group stage, in which Benfica finished first in their group ahead of PSG. To finish his brilliant 2022, he won a historic World Cup with Argentina in which he ended up becoming one of the key figures of the Albiceleste. After starting as a substitute in the first two games, Scaloni gave him a place in the XI after the great goal that sealed the victory over Mexico. He started every game until the end of the tournament.
In addition to Plan C, Locatelli is also the low cost option. The operation that brought Locatelli to Turin (he is on loan from Sassuolo with a purchase obligation in 2023), will cost Juventus no more than €37.5 million; Bellingham’s price will easily exceed €100 million. And Enzo’s, after the World Cup, will have skyrocketed. Benfica paid €12 million for him to River Plate last summer, but the club is known for getting the most out of their signings. Over the last ten seasons, the Portuguese club has made €600 million from various dealings in the transfer market.
The prediction of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence developed by Olocip predicts that Locatelli can offer an on-pitch performance very similar to that of Bellingham and Enzo. In a 10-month prediction environment with Ancelotti as coach, the AI predicts that Bellingham and Locatelli would achieve a rating of 98 compared to 99 for the Argentine. Although Locatelli is below the other two options in terms of attacking contribution, he would prevail over Bellingham in the construction of the game and would be better than both in defence.