Real Madrid whizkid turned down La Liga rivals in January | OneFootball

It has not been the easiest of debut seasons for Arda Guler at Real Madrid. Having arrived in the summer, the youngster suffered an injury in pre-season and then succumbed to two more injuries that delayed his debut until January.

Since then, Guler has been fit and fine, but minutes have been hard to come by under Carlo Ancelotti, owing to competition for places as well as the manager’s lack of complete faith in him.

As such, there had been a time in January when there were talks of Guler leaving the club on a loan deal until the end of the season.

Granada wanted Guler

Now, as per Anton Meana on SER (h/t AS), Guler had emerged as a transfer target for La Liga club Granada during the January transfer window.

The Andalusian outfit had seen star winger Bryan Zaragoza depart for Bayern Munich during the winter and intended to replace him with the Real Madrid whizkid.

“When Bayern signed Zaragoza they left Granada without a great player. Granada called Arda Güler and suggested that he go there to play the second half of the season,” Meana revealed.

“At Granada, there are people who have a good relationship with Güler because they knew him from when he was in Turkey. And Bryan’s departure made them call Güler. He wanted to bet on Madrid and politely let them know. He doesn’t want to play anywhere else,” Meana said.

Guler turned down Granada in January. (Photo by THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images)

Turning things around

There have never been any doubts about Guler’s quality and the youngster has shown it almost every time he has stepped out on the pitch.

The 19-year-old got his first start against Real Sociedad last week and made it count with a match-winning goal.

Following that match, Ancelotti confirmed that Guler will not be leaving Real Madrid on loan in the summer and will be staying on at the club.