OK, stop me if you’ve heard this one already — 24-year-old Real Madrid attacker Rodrygo Goes is linked with Tottenham Hotspur, who are reportedly in talks to ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha I’m sorry I’m still not sure I can do this. A few days ago, Carty Free Editor Emeritus Sean Cahill returned from retirement to write up a Bat Country article about this very rumor, and there doesn’t yet seem to be much reason to dispute anything in there.
Or is there? There probably isn’t. BUT WHAT IF? For whatever
reason, these rumors aren’t going away. The latest comes from Spanish journalist Ramon Alvarez de Mon, who reported on Twitter that Tottenham are “in talks” over Rodrygo, but are waiting to see whether Liverpool decide to make a move for him or signs Alexander Isak from Newcastle instead. There’s still every chance that Rodrygo decides to stay at Madrid, however.
Conversaciones del Tottenham por Rodrygo y a la espera de si el Liverpool se mueve.
— Ramón Álvarez de Mon (@Ramon_AlvarezMM) July 28, 2025
Nada decidido por parte del jugador, que podría quedarse en el Real Madrid. pic.twitter.com/raoUd6pCtu
So, a couple things about this. First, the reasons why this won’t happen are still very real — Rodrygo is a very good player and would undoubtedly improve Tottenham Hotspur’s first team, but he would cost a pretty penny to get out of Madrid. Then there’s the question of his wages — Rodrygo makes about £200k/wk net, not gross, meaning after taxes. Most wages in English football are reported as gross. So his wages are stupid high, some saying as high as £400k/week. That would smash completely through Spurs’ wage structure and would likely have long tail implications going forward.
There’s also the question of how badly Rodrygo wants to leave. It does sound like Madrid are willing to let him go. He’s a good enough player that he’d be a target for clubs much richer and better than Tottenham Hotspur, but almost all of those teams have already done or are doing their business. That could put Spurs in the position of “next best club available” for Rodrygo, again if he’s willing to leave Madrid to make that kind of step down. It would take a number of highly specific dominoes to fall in just the right order for it to happen, but part of the transfer window is clubs getting themselves in the right position to take advantage of situations that might occur.
My gut feeling is that this rumor is still fake as hell, or just Rodrygo’s agent working feverishly to try and create a market for his client. There’s also the possibility that whatever “in talks” means isn’t as sexy as we want it to be, i.e. Spurs have made some kind of preliminary contact for Rodrygo that probably won’t go anywhere.
There’s also a possibility that this could turn into something like a deadline day loan with a purchase option, which would be fun but I’d guess Spurs would still be on the hook for nearly all, if not all, of Rodrygo’s wages. And that’s really the sticking point here: I just don’t see Spurs doing that, and I’d be a little upset if we bet the farm on this happening rather than continuing to strengthen other areas.
So, I’m still deeply, deeply skeptical that this is something that is a) a thing and b) a thing that will happen. What’s more interesting is that these rumors aren’t going away despite people like us laughing at the possibility.
But yo, it’d be pretty rad if it did.
More from cartilagefreecaptain.sbnation.com:
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- Tottenham eying Brazilian attacker Malcom in January transfer window
- Pochettino: Harry Kane can be Tottenham’s Totti
- Jan Vertonghen thinks Belgium has the advantage over England in World Cup
- Saturday football open thread
- The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Friday, December 29
- Italian media claims Tottenham in for Ajax starlet
