Reports: Real Madrid close to sealing €20m sale of Oscar Rodriguez

Real Madrid midfielder Oscar Rodriguez is close to signing with Villarreal, according to Spanish publication Marca. The 22-year-old was on loan at the now-relegated Leganes and was one of the bright sparks in the under-performing team.

The report suggests that the move will be worth €20 million. However, the asking price might be lowered if Real Madrid opt to include a buy-back or/and a sell-on clause in his deal.

Oscar Rodriguez through on goal in the final seconds, against his parent club, and...he just can't find the finish to save Leganes! 😱Celta survive, with Leganes' valiant effort just falling short 👏 pic.twitter.com/u6EVvE0MpH

— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) July 19, 2020

Oscar Rodriguez to leave Real Madrid for Villarreal

Oscar Rodriguez was one of the few positives of a disappointing Leganes campaign, with the club having been relegated in the last game of the La Liga season amid VAR-related controversy. Los Pepineros needed a win against champions Real Madrid in the last fixture of the campaign but managed only a 2-2 draw.

Oscar Rodriguez scores for Leganes against Mallorca

Leganes were denied a penalty shout late in the game as Real Madrid striker Luka Jović handled the ball in his own penalty box. However, the VAR didn't flag the incident and the Lega finished the game a single point behind Celta Vigo, who was 17th on the table.

Rodriguez, who has played in a host of midfield positions for his loan club, impressed with nine goals and two assists in twenty-two starts in La Liga. The Spain U-21 man's versatility and technical brilliance attracted interest from a host of clubs, including AC Milan, Sevilla and Getafe.

Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has a plethora of options in midfield with the likes of Isco, Federico Valverde, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro fighting for a place in the starting line-up. This is why it makes perfect sense for Oscar to move to another club for regular playing time.

The curious case of Oscar Rodriguez - whose free kick genius will most likely be on show at Sevilla or Villarreal next season: https://t.co/WL9p7USgKE

— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) July 13, 2020

Real Madrid will look to offload a number of players in the upcoming transfer window, with the likes of Dani Ceballos and James Rodríguez linked with a move away from the Bernabeu.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has confirmed that the club is unlikely to make any major new signings in the upcoming window. In an interview after Los Blancos' triumph in La Liga, he said:

"We won’t make big signings, the situation is very bad. It’s very tough to ask our players to take a salary cut and then sign big players, they can all wait. Real Madrid will sign big players again when the situation improves."