Franco Mastantuono's Real Madrid Future in Jeopardy
Franco Mastantuono’s Real Madrid gamble is already heading for the exit door.
Left out of José Mourinho’s squad for the trip to Austria to face Fiorentina in pre-season, the 19-year-old Argentine finds himself on the brink of a loan move away from the Bernabéu, a decision inside the club described as “expected”, according to Spanish outlet AS.
A €60m bet that never really got going
The omission in itself might have passed as a minor pre-season footnote. Dean Huijsen is injured, Antonio Rüdiger is still short of full fitness, and rotations are normal in July and August. But Mastantuono’s case is different. He stayed in Madrid because the club is finalising his temporary departure.
It underlines a harsh reality. A year after Real Madrid paid more than €60 million to prise him from River Plate, Mastantuono has slipped to the margins.
He began last season with a genuine chance. There was buzz around his left foot, his ability to break lines, his River pedigree. Then the minutes dried up. By the end of his first campaign in white, the numbers told the story: fewer than 1,500 minutes, three goals, one assist. For a player signed at that price, and with that fanfare, it was nowhere near enough to cement a place in Mourinho’s plans.
Inside the club, the feeling is clear: the new season will be even more unforgiving.
Diomande’s arrival closes the door
Madrid are not standing still. The squad is being reinforced, and one name looms large over Mastantuono’s future: Diomande.
His imminent arrival has tilted the internal debate decisively. With another significant signing coming in to strengthen the side, the room for a developing, inconsistent young attacker shrinks. Mourinho and the hierarchy have reached the same conclusion: there is no guaranteed role for Mastantuono this year.
A permanent sale is not on the table. The club still believes in his ceiling, but not in his immediate impact. A loan, then, becomes the logical escape route for everyone involved — minutes for the player, breathing space for the coach, and protection of the investment for the board.
Italy calling, England listening
Where he goes next remains open, but the queue is forming.
Serie A clubs have moved first. Fiorentina, who will face Madrid in Austria without him on the pitch, were among the earliest to ask about a loan. Roma and Milan are also tracking the situation, sensing an opportunity to pick up a high-upside talent at relatively low risk.
From England, Fulham have stepped in. Their sporting director, Álvaro Arbeloa, knows the Madrid ecosystem inside out and has made no secret of his admiration for Mastantuono’s potential. Fulham see a creative option who can grow in the Premier League without the suffocating expectations that come with the Bernabéu spotlight.
The decision will hinge on one thing above all: guaranteed, meaningful minutes at a competitive level.
No way back to River
One option has already been taken off the table. A romantic return to River Plate, the club where Mastantuono first made his name, has been ruled out completely.
Reports in recent weeks floated the idea of a homecoming, a reset in familiar surroundings. Neither the player nor Real Madrid are entertaining it. Both sides agree his future, at least in the medium term, lies in Europe. The priority is adaptation: to the tempo, the physicality, the tactical demands that convinced Madrid to spend so heavily on him in the first place.
A year ago, Mastantuono arrived as one of the brightest prospects out of South America, the latest in a long line of River exports expected to thrive under the Bernabéu lights. Twelve months on, he is packing his bags for a different dressing room, chasing the minutes he could not find in Madrid.
The talent is still there. The fee is still there. The expectations have not gone away.
The question now is simple: which club will give him the stage to prove that Real Madrid’s €60m bet was just delayed, not misplaced?
