Güler takes advantage of his chance at Madrid - does he deserve to play more?

The Turkish midfielder played against Osasuna as Real Madrid won comprehensively. Again, he took his chance well and shone in the white shirt.

The murmur around Arda Güler is starting to become a rumble. In fact, it’s more than a rumble, it’s a roar, a unanimous thought: Güler deserves more minutes at Real Madrid. Because while he has waited for the door to open, the light of his magic wand has been shining bright. There is magic there, you can sense, feel and, when he gets the chance, definitely see it.

That is why the overwhelming feeling that “the boy” - as he is affectionately called at Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground - should be playing more. He is an enormous talent that is being wasted because of his lack of experience at the very top.

Note: more experience is not synonymous with better performance. Sometimes youthful hunger eats up everything in its path. But for that, you have to have trust. Being risky can bring success.

How many games has Arda Güler played for Real Madrid?

And that’s what is missing with Güler: real opportunities. At 19-years-old, he has only played 98 official minutes, less than Nico Paz (127). He has participated in seven games and only started one, the Copa del Rey tie against Arandina.

Taking away that game, he has played 39 official minutes in the remaining 40 matches (8 Champions League games, 29 LaLiga games, an extra round of the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup). The mathematics, therefore, are simple: every time Ancelotti puts him on the field, it’s for six and a half minutes.

And yet, in that tiny sample size, Güler has been able to demonstrate that his boots are filled with talent. The dressing room describes his left foot as “incredible” and at the club they continue to lick their lips at the diamond they have found. Güler has been able to show flashes of huge quality in the minutes he has seen and got his first goal against Celta before hitting a shot from 50 metres that crashed into Sergio Herrera’s crossbar against Osasuna.

“What did I feel when I saw the shot? Well... (laughs). He’s a great talent, only a great talent can visualise something like that! It doesn’t matter that he didn’t score, for us it’s a goal,” joked Ancelotti at the press conference.

Güler is going from strength to strength, waving the flag of meritocracy. Practically nobody at Real Madrid can explain why he is playing so little and when asked by the press, Carletto repeats that his problem is the enormous competition, that to put him on he would have to take off an already elite player.

But if you ask the fans, they want some middle ground: the noise is not that he should be a starter, but that when he comes on he can enjoy more than six and a half minutes. Because there is a real footballer there...

A few weeks ago the debate raged about what would happen to Güler in the summer, with a loan on the cards. Last season Güler said himself that he had “ruled out” a move away in his presentation, surprising everyone, including the club. He was ready to play, with the ambition to prove that he was good enough and, although the road has been tough for some time, he is well and truly here now.

AS understands that the club currently rejects the possibility of him leaving on loan next summer. Güler, despite having played less than 100 minutes, excites both the club and the Madridistas, is well secure that the values of working hard and taking advantage of every minute will have their benefits. Soon it will be more than six and a half minutes.