Revealed: Why Carlo Ancelotti has started Arda Guler just three times in 2025 | OneFootball

Real Madrid starlet Arda Guler has seen his spell at the club defined by the time he has spent on the bench rather than his contribution on the pitch so far. After an impressive series of cameos at the end of last season, it looked as if the Turkish international was set for an important role this season, but come the second half of it, he is back where he was last year.

Over the last three months, Guler has featured far less than he did in the first half of the season. The 20-year-old has three goals and five assists in his 30 appearances so far, accumulating 1,088 minutes. However just three of his ten starts have come in 2025, and all were in the Copa del Rey. Outside of the Copa, Guler has only featured for 113 minutes this calendar year.

According to Relevo, the reasons for Carlo Ancelotti’s aversion to playing Guler are multiple, but that the two have never had a particularly good relationship. However the reasons for his lack of protagonism go beyond that. The Italian manager is not convinced by his performances in training, and in particular, a lack of commitment when defending, something he prizes in a squad where all of the players are blessed with exceptional talent.

On the pitch, Ancelotti has also seen reason to leave Guler out. The primary irritation was during a Copa del Rey tie against Leganes, where Guler was, in the eyes of the coaching staff, ‘passive’, taking poor decisions with and without the ball, and unbalancing the team. ‘He didn’t do anything the coaching staff asked of him,’ reads their reporting. Ancelotti and his colleagues were frustrated with Guler, and it provoked an argument with the starlet about the matter, although not the first.

Against Villarreal, Kylian Mbappe was complaining to Guler about his decision to shoot late on rather than pass to the Frenchman, which is not out of the ordinary, but was seen as more evidence of his inability to take advantage of the chances afforded to him.

Increasingly it looks as if Guler will be on his way out of the club this summer if Ancelotti is not. Recent reporting has claimed that while a decision will be taken at the end of the season, if Guler is not set for a larger role, then he will seek an exit in the transfer window. Inter and AC Milan have also been linked with a move for him, as have RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen.