A Day of Solace: 17 Oct. 2026

Welcome to The Daily Merengue — a place where you can feel free to discuss all things football. Do not be alarmed by the overt RMCF bias. It’s in the name!

Shoutout to the Mods who do a fantastic job, Valyrian Steel, Ezek XI, KungFuZizou, NeRObutBlanco, Felipejack, and Juninho.

Writer’s Prelude. We’ll keep is short.

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Relief

A Renewal. According to two sources that I rarely ever trust AS and Fabrizio Romano, but partially confirmed by sources I actually believe carry journalistic credibility, it appears that Jude Bellingham is on the verge of renewing his contract with Real Madrid. Rumor has it that he will be given a salary and stature similar to Vini but exceeding Vini’s as far as it comes to marketing benefits and bonuses. Despite my DT yesterday regarding Jude and his role on the squad, renewing him just simply makes sense especially at this time frame. Jude is the 2nd face of Real Madrid (after Kylian Mbappe) and is one of the most marketable players in the world. He is also arguably our 2nd best player and potentially our most complete player as well. This renewal just simply makes sense and provides the club some leverage in future initiatives.

Return. It seem like Eder Militia is finally returning back to the Real Madrid squad. I’ll admit I don’t have supremely high hopes for him but if he can return after his latest injury to even close to his past performance it will be a major boon to our backline depth. Personally, I believe Dean Huijsen has made a significant leap thus far this year, and Konate has reestablished his past self. Militao will face plenty of competition for a starting role but we can only cheer him on and hope for a successful return. Next up Ferland Mendy…and Rodrygo Goes.

Renewed Faith. Like clockwork, Endrick’s performance has reached the news cycle with the club reestablishing their faith in the wonderkid. I’m still a bit skeptical on whether it makes sense to keep Endrick this entire season (for his own career) but the upcoming La Liga matches and potentially CL (depending on if Mourinho still chooses to play Vini) will give Endrick his first real chance and best opportunity to establish himself as part of the Real Madrid XI / rotation. He seems to have Mourinho’s faith (at least in press conferences), it’ll be very interesting to see if that faith is showcased against Sevilla.