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Was overlooking Raul De Tomas the biggest mistake Real Madrid made this summer?

Cristiano Ronaldo ended his nine year stay at the Bernabéu in the summer when he made the £105 million move to Italian giants Juventus.

A period which saw the Portuguese star score 311 goals in 292 appearances, helping Los Blancos win 16 trophies as a direct result of the contribution he made. Therefore, when you take Ronaldo away, what he leaves behind is a gap, and a large gap at that. One which needed to be filled with a proven goal scorer.

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Rumours circulated all summer about Eden Hazard who would’ve been a great fit for Lopetegui’s system going forward but instead, Florentino Pérez believed that Vinícius Júnior and Mariano Díaz were the answer. They are not.

Júnior is just 18-years-old and still has a lot to learn, he spent last season at Flamengo scoring just seven goals before officially making the move to Madrid, where he looked out of his depth during his cameo appearance in the 1-0 defeat to Deportivo Alaves.

The Brazilian is potentially four years away from where Real need him to be at the present moment and despite the price tag too much cant be demanded of him just yet.

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That turns the spotlight onto Mariano who cost Madrid £19.35 million to bring back from Olympique Lyonnais, where he scored 20 goals in Ligue 1 last season.

However, the Spaniard has only registered one goal for Los Blancos this season, and is still yet to score in La Liga.

These two players could still and probably will come good in the future but the answer Madrid were looking for was starring them right in the face – Introducing academy product Raúl de Tomás. (or RDT as he likes to be known – similar to the CR7, Cristiano Ronaldo adopted.)

The 24-year-old joined Real Madrid back in 2004 from local club Deportivo San Roque and featured for Real Madrid C and later RM Castilla.

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Three La Liga 123 loan spells followed, first with Córdoba where he scored six goals in 26 games, then with Valladolid scoring 14 times in 36, before his breakthrough campaign last season whilst on loan with Rayo Vallecano who he fired to promotion with 24 goals in 32 appearances.

After gaining vital experience out on loan and proving that he can score goals for both club and country, it was the perfect time for De Tomás to step into the senior fold at the Bernabéu.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and Lopetegui didn’t see the natural goal-scorer who was sanding directly in front of him. Instead opting to send the striker back out on loan.

Several clubs were keen to take the youngster on loan before he decided to return to Vallecano, this time in La Liga.

Making five appearances for Los Franjirrojos so far this season, the 24-year-old has registered two goals. Two less than Karim Benzema who has played four more games than De Tomás and two more than Mariano has managed in La Liga.

RDT could’ve replaced CR7, the answer was there from the start, but Madrid failed to take notice amidst the noise of big money signings, a decision under fire boss Lopetegui may live to regret for years to come.

But with a new man at the helm, RDT may get his chance when he returns to Los Blancos at the end of the season.