The Real Madrid players out on loan: More struggles than successes

As many as seven Real Madrid players departed on loan last summer, with the majority of them struggling to stand out or even get playing time.

Dani Ceballos, Gareth Bale, Takefusa Kubo, Jesus Vallejo, Brahim Diaz, Reinier and Borja Mayoral are currently plying their trade elsewhere.

Here, we take a look at how Real Madrid's loanees have performed so far this season.

Real Madrid were trying to offload the Wales international for a long time and they managed to do so last summer, with Bale joining former club Tottenham.

Despite being the club's top transfer priority, Bale has yet to live up to expectations, having played just 162 minutes across four Premier League games this season due to injuries and technical decisions.

His loan to Villarreal was not as fruitful as Real Madrid may have expected, as Kubo is not considered as a first-choice forward by Unai Emery.

Having played 300 minutes in 13 LaLiga Santander duels this season, the loanee is expected to join Getafe on loan in January.

Arsenal's poor start to the season has affected Ceballos, who has played 1,200 minutes of football across 23 games in his second campaign on loan at the Gunners.

The Spanish midfielder has distributed one assist in the Premier League, but has yet to register any goals. However, he stands out for expected assists per 90 minutes at Arsenal.

Despite his loan having been more successful than the rest of the Real Madrid loanees, Brahim has not established himself in AC Milan's starting XI, registering 700 minutes on the pitch in Serie A and Europa League.

According to La Gazzetta Dello Sport, his four goals this season, as well as his overall contribution in attack, have urged AC Milan to try to find a way to extend his stay in Italy.

After an unsuccessful loan spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Vallejo has managed to work his way into Granada's starting line-up.

This year, the 24-year-old centre-back has started 12 of the 14 games he played for Granada. His objective is to return to his parent club in summer.

The 2020 calendar year has been one full of struggles for Reinier, who scored two goals in three games for Real Madrid Castilla after joining the club last January.

An injury was followed by the COVID-19 outbreak and the Brazilian left on a two-year loan to Borussia Dortmund last summer.

Lucien Favre didn't count on Reinier, who has played 136 minutes without starting in any game so far this season.

However, following Favre's dismissal, new coach Edin Terzic has stressed that Reinier is in his plans and it remains to be seen whether he will manage to get more playing time in 2021.

Real Madrid decided to offload Mayoral despite rumours that he could stay to cover for Karim Benzema.

Roma signed him on a two-year loan last summer and he has started twice. He has played eight times in overall and scored one goal in Serie A this season.

Tough decisions

There are six months left for Real Madrid to evaluate their loanees' progress ahead of another transfer window in which the club will have to decide whether to place their confidence in them or offload them to try their luck elsewhere.