With four goals, one red card, and qualification to the last-16 of the Club World Cup almost secured for Real Madrid on Sunday, there was plenty for Xabi Alonso to discuss after the game. Of the things he was asked about, the absence of Rodrygo from the team was not one of them.
He had returned to the side after nearly two months out. This hasn't been totally due to fitness. Although illness did see him miss some games at the back end of last season - "Rodrygo has a fever that has not allowed him to perform at his best,” former manager Carlo Ancelotti said after the 4-3 defeat to Barcelona on April 26 - it has been more than just that keeping him out.
At the time, Rodrygo wrote online: “Thank you for the messages and concerns. I will be back soon. Stop creating things.” It came after a media frenzy around where he would be playing his football next season.
Liverpool had been linked in January. They were also mentioned as one of the many interested parties last summer. Arsenal have since emerged as an option.
Now under Alonso's watch in America, Rodrygo may be in-and-out of the starting XI but he is still always in the news. For a player who has done relatively little at the business end of the campaign, he has been one of the main talking points.
Ancelotti left him out of his Brazil squad for World Cup qualifiers at the start of June. That was agreed on with Rodrygo after a tough few months that have seen him in the headlines almost none stop.
Had it not been for this slight hiatus, Rodrygo would have surely clocked over 2,000 league minutes for the third year in a row. His output dropped, but only slightly.
After Kylian Mbappe's arrival last summer and the challenge of getting all of Madrid's best players in one team, questions over Rodrygo's future have continued to swirl. He is the least glamorous of the attacking quartet including Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, and Vinicius Jr.
He still managed six goals and six assists in the league but that is in comparison to 10 and five in 2023/24 and nine and nine the season before. Given what Rodrygo has done and the role he has played for club and country since moving from Santos in 2019, the slight drop has not been enough to dissuade watching teams.
Alonso has not been able to assure Rodrygo of what lays ahead, regardless. “No [I haven't met with him]," Alonso said at his unveiling press conference. “I’m going to have a conversation with all the players because they deserve it and we need it because we have to get to know each other. That he is a spectacular player is not for me to discover. We will need him.”
Ahead of the opening group game draw with Al-Hilal, Alonso added: “I can tell you to a point [why he hasn't been playing]. I know what happened, that the end of the season was not easy for him. He took some time that was good for him, to reset his head. We talked from day one and I see him looking forward to enjoying himself with his quality.”
In the midst of this, Rodrygo posted online of himself in training. "FELIZ [smiling face, white heart, and football emojis]". That translates from Spanish to "Happy."
Rodrygo has since started for Madrid, setting up the opening goal against Al-Hilal. He played just over an hour in a full-strength side on paper from Alonso. On Sunday against Pachuca, in a much more rotated XI, Rodrygo was unused.
Madrid won 3-1 despite going down to 10 men early. Lucas Vazquez was also left as a substitute but other main first-teamers came on, including Antonio Rudiger, Luka Modric, and Brahim Diaz.
Meanwhile, Arsenal continue to search for a new winger. Rodrygo prefers the left, although he has been shunted out to the right to accommodate for Vinicius Jr more often than not. Arsenal need players to act as cover, support, and competition across the frontline.
Alonso has been unable to offer much reassurance to Rodrygo. Arsenal supporters may well read into that and the Pachuca match but Friday morning's clash with RB Salzburg in a game that has genuine consequences is even more important. For now, it is all eyes on Madrid and their winger.
