After a statement-making 2-0 victory over Real Betis prior to the September international “break”, Real Madrid will face another top side in LaLiga next weekend, Real Sociedad.
La Real have begun the season with just one win in four games, ranking 12th in the league with four points. However, Real Sociedad are traditionally a tough opponent for Real Madrid and Champions League contenders. Plus, they will be at home this Saturday night.
Real Sociedad have a number of great players in their starting lineup, but the benchmark for any player is being good enough to make the Real Madrid squad, as they are the clear defending champions of Spanish football.
There may only be one player on Real Sociedad who has a legitimate chance of actually starting games for Real Madrid – even then that would be disputed – and I will make sure to discuss him at length.
But there are three players on Real Sociedad who would be qualified to make the Real Madrid squad due to a combination of quality and offering traits that would be useful to Real Madrid.
So to pay respect to the opponent on Saturday night at the Anoeta, here are three Real Sociedad stars who would not look out of place in the 25-man Real Madrid squad for the 2024/25 season.
Martin Zubimendi
Calling one Real Sociedad the definitive, “best” player on the team is subjective, but in terms of value and the difficulty of his skill set in comparison to his peers at the position, Martin Zubimendi stands out the most as the key player to watch on La Real.
Furthermore, if Real Madrid could sign any one player from Real Sociedad, then the club’s starting defensive midfielder would likely be the choice, because Zubimendi could at least compete for starts as Madrid’s No. 6, even if Aurelien Tchouameni would ultimately still be the favorite to land the lion’s share of the minutes.
Pretty much every top club with a conceivable need for a defensive midfielder has gone hard after Zubimendi, but like fellow Basque superstar Nico Williams, he has shown absolutely zero interest in leaving the club.
Barcelona are desperate for a top 6 in the aftermath of Sergio Busquets’ move to MLS, and Zubimendi has been their dream get for the past couple of transfer windows.
It’s easy to see why. Zubimendi is an elegant and intelligent player who doesn’t overcomplicate things. He has no ego. Zubimendi exists to help facilitate play for the more attacking players, keep the ball cycling, and cover Imanol Alguacil’s gaps so that the back line is protected in an attack-heavy scheme.
Zubimendi is an accurate passer, capable creator, safe dribbler, and borderline elite defensive presence with his combination of defensive screening and active ball-winning.
Real Madrid generally dominate the midfield battle against any LaLiga opponent, but without Toni Kroos, their matchup against Real Sociedad on the road looks that much more interesting, especially with the 25-year-old Zubimendi ever-improving in his peak.
Brais Mendez
Even before he arrived at Real Sociedad in 2022, Brais Mendez was causing problems for Real Madrid as Iago Aspas’ partner in crime for Celta Vigo, registering nine goal contributions in back-to-back seasons with the club before arriving in San Sebastian.
At the time, I was excited for Mendez’s move to La Real, because I had seen how talented he was for Celta Vigo. He showed a high degree of technical quality and creativity with an ability to create a sense of danger in the box as an attacking midfielder, only overshadowed by Aspas’ legendary greatness.
Mendez thrived immediately for Real Sociedad who play an even more intricate, attack-centric game than Celta. And although Celta have an amazing center forward in Aspas, they don’t have the sheer quantity of top players that La Real do.
In 2022/23, Mendez was a legitimate LaLiga Player of the Season candidate with 8 goals, 4 assists, and nearly 2 tackles per game as an all-around midfield star. He actually faded a bit in the second half of the season, but he still finished the campaign as one of the top midfielders in LaLiga.
Last season, Mendez picked up where he left off with another strong season for Real Sociedad, scoring 5 goals with 6 assists while nearly drawing 2 fouls per game. Nobody would confuse Mendez’s defensive contributions with Zubimendi’s, for example, but he was still an asset at winning possession.
Real Madrid have a loaded midfield, especially when it comes to attacking midfielders, so Mendez wouldn’t be a starter for the Royal Whites by any means. But with the midfield transitioning a bit and spot for one more depth guy, Mendez could absolutely crack the squad.
He has the technical ability and intensity off the ball to fit what Real Madrid want. And although I probably love Dani Ceballos as a player more than many others who follow LaLiga, I’d still take Mendez over him in a heartbeat because of his superior finishing, passing in the final third, and consistency.
From a quality perspective, Mendez would not look out of place at all on Real Madrid, though, at 27, he’s honestly a couple of years older than what Real want in a midfield signing, given they tend to only go for LaLiga veterans at striker and in defense.
Mikel Oyarzabal
Before I discuss Mikel Oyarzabal and talk him up like I did with Mendez and Zubimendi, there is an elephant in the room that I have to address when it comes to discussing Real Sociedad’s players.
Takefusa Kubo used to be a Real Madrid player and was loaned several times around LaLiga before he was sold to Real Sociedad with the retention of the ability to buy him back.
So while Kubo could more easily join Real Madrid than any of the other players on this list and is both young and arguably as talented as any player on La Real, the Royal Whites may not find him to be as useful or unique to them as the others.
That’s because Real Madrid already have attacking midfielders who are great at dribbling and creating. Rodrygo Goes can do that from the 10 or right wing position much better than Kubo can, and now Real Madrid have two left-footed young stars in Brahim Diaz and the even more talented Arda Guler, who can do what Kubo does 10 times better.
So while Kubo is one of LaLiga’s most skillful attacking players, Real Madrid made the decision to sell him to Real Sociedad in the first place and are in a better position now without him with Guler and Brahim in the first team.
Thus, the last remaining Real Sociedad star who could conceivably make the Real Madrid squad is forward Mikel Oyarzabal, who was one of the most promising talents in Spanish football before a devastating cruciate ligament tear derailed his career and sapped a lot of his agility.
Oyarzabal has been working his way back to stardom, and he has done so successfully because of his elite finishing, leadership, football intelligence, and technical quality.
Real Madrid recently sold veteran No. 9 Joselu, and while Oyarzabal is more of an all-around forward than a true 9, Los Blancos don’t need to play with a real 9 anyway. Right now, Kylian Mbappe is more of an all-arounder than a mainstay 9, and Karim Benzema wasn’t really a traditional striker either.
Oyarzabal was important to the Spanish national team at the Euros this summer, and he remains vital to Real Sociedad, too. Because Oyarzabal is such a great finisher and brings goals, the most important commodity in football, Real Madrid would take him and his clinical finishing above the rest.
With six seasons of at least nine goals in LaLiga and one season with double-digit assists and double-digit goals, Oyarzabal is a difference-maker. Now in the prime of his career at 27 and with his game fully adjusted after the torn ACL, we could be seeing the very best of Mikel in 2024/25, too.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.