Güler one minute from matching last season’s minutes | OneFootball

Güler is one minute from matching last season’s minutes, and it is only February. He has 2,196 across 35 games, compared with 2,197 in 49 last term. Elevated from understudy to a central figure under Arbeloa, he has started six of his seven outings.

In Albacete he started. Against Levante he came on and changed the game, delivering an assist, topping pass accuracy and creating the most chances. AS notes that he then started five in a row, against Monaco, Villarreal, Benfica, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia.

The live debate is whether he can truly run Real Madrid. Xabi Alonso once likened him to a blend of Özil and Guti, adding that the club should invest in him by keeping faith through mistakes. Arbeloa is treading the same path and sees him capable of directing play.

At Mestalla he was both beacon and organiser, recording a game high nine crosses and the second most passes in the final third with 22. Without the ball he also led recoveries with eight, ahead of Valverde and Carreras on five, showing a broader, more complete profile.

He is 20 and will turn 21 on 25 February, the day of the Benfica second leg. The staff remain optimistic about a plan that hands him responsibility, accepts errors as learning and treats him as a rough diamond. Despite reports he has personally denied, he is content at Real Madrid.

Source: AS