Former German international Lukas Podolski has today joined the growing list of parties to have expressed concern over the situation of Arda Güler at Real Madrid.
The subject of Güler’s place in Madrid has of course dominated the headlines in Spain for some time now.
This comes amid increasing frustration on the part of both the player himself, and Real’s fanbase, with the lack of playing time being afforded to the Turkish talent.
The early months of the campaign saw Güler unavailable to boss Ancelotti, owing to a string of injury setbacks.
Despite having now been back fit for over a month, though, he has nevertheless been handed just a trio of appearances, for a grand total of around 80 minutes.
In turn, murmurs had even begun to mount in the media, that Güler could be farmed out on loan for the 2nd half of the term.
With the January transfer window having now come and gone, as much, evidently, will not prove to be the case.
But one individual who is evidently of the opinion that the 18-year-old seeking out more consistent playing time elsewhere would not have marked the worst idea comes in the form of the aforementioned Lukas Podolski.
Speaking in an interview with Marca, ex-Arsenal and Bayern Munich frontman Podolski was asked for his thoughts on Güler’s situation at present.
And the now-38-year-old went on to suggest that the Turk’s move to Madrid may have come a touch too soon:
“We’ll see in future if his time at the club was good or not. Maybe he signed for Real Madrid too soon. He’s a great talent, but he’s not yet able to show the best version of himself.
“He won’t be a starter in the coming months. It’s not easy to come from Fenerbahce and find a place at Real Madrid.
“Real Madrid are on another level. At a club like that, you can’t say things like ‘We have to give him time. We have to help him’. There is no time,” Podolski concluded.
Conor Laird | GSFN
