Takefusa Kubo eyed up by Real Madrid after finding best level

Carlo Ancelotti is very pleased with the squad he has, but he only has three forwards, and one of them, the most decisive one, Vinicius, is injured. Only the goal-scoring breakthrough of new arrival Jude Bellingham masks this deficiency, as Rodrygo and Joselu, the other two attackers, miss chances frequently. However, when one looks at the league's top scorers' list, behind the Englishman, who leads with five goals, there are three players who passed through Castilla (Real Madrid's B team) and then moved up to the first team: Kubo, Morata, and Willian José, each with three goals.

But it's the Japanese player who stands out the most after finding a team where he can exploit his best footballing qualities. The continuity provided by Imanol Alguacil at Real Sociedad has allowed him to grow and become increasingly important. He's ironing out his flaws and refining his strengths, and one of them is his accuracy in front of goal. His performances are starting to shine, drawing the attention of top-tier teams that see a player maturing and becoming profitable with goals.

Real Madrid has been monitoring him since they transferred him to Real Sociedad in the summer of 2022 for just six million euros, retaining 50% of his rights. At 22 years old, he still has a lot of room for improvement, making his development worth keeping an eye on with the possibility of bringing him back. The Basque club placed a 60 million euro release clause on him, and Madrid would have to pay half, 30 million, to bring him back into their fold. This option is not ruled out if the Japanese player maintains his upward trajectory.

Kubo showed promise last season, scoring nine goals and providing nine assists, but his explosive start to this campaign has put him in the spotlight with three goals and one assist. The Japanese player, who came through Barcelona's youth system, is open to joining Real Madrid after several teams showed interest in him this summer, although none made a decisive move like Napoli did. Now, it's Real Madrid that could benefit from his good work at Real Sociedad and follow in the footsteps of Odegaard to return to the Bernabéu.