Diarrà's Future At Madrid In Doubt
Mahamadou Diarrà's future at Real Madrid is up in the air after Fernando Gago performed so well in his place when he was away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Mahamadou Diarrà's future at Real Madrid is up in the air after Fernando Gago performed so well in his place when he was away at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Mali midfielder returned against Almería last weekend and did not impress, leading many speculate that he could be off-loaded at the end of the season.
A section of the Madrid board are not keen on Diarrà's physical style in the midfield and prefer Gago to be employed in front of the back four instead, according to Sport.
Bernd Schuster has also not been impressed of late with the former Lyon star and was unhappy that he returned late from the tournament in Africa.
Another bone of contention with the Madrid hierarchy is that Diarrà cost €26m and is reported to be earning almost double what Gago is currently on.
Last summer Los Merengues reportedly rejected a €15m offer for the 26-year-old, but could well reconsider should a club offer a similar quantity in four months time.
Schuster believes that if a new, and more versatile, defensive midfielder could be found then he would let Diarrà go once he had his replacement installed.