Why exactly does Fabian Ruiz prefer Real Madrid over Barcelona?

Since 2017 Real Madrid have been trying to sign 23-year-old Fabian Ruiz and as his value skyrockets it appears the Napoli midfielder would prefer a move to Madrid over rivals Barcelona.

Real Madrid are currently second in the La Liga table, tied on points with rival Barcelona, and Madrid also appear to be in tight race to sign star midfielder Fabian Ruiz during the summer transfer window.

The 23-year-old grew up in the Real Betis youth system and, even though there was interest from Real Madrid, Ruiz ended up in Naples after Napoli paid the 30 million buyout clause. Just two years later, the new Spanish international sees his transfer value currently stand at around 68.4 million and will have a few of the biggest clubs in the world bidding for his services.

Ruiz is known for his technical side of the game, as he is above-average in ball control, dribbling and passing, but has recently started to make an impact on defense which has really rounded out his game.

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This season, Ruiz has appeared in 26 matches for club and country, a total of 1,580 minutes, and has contributed three goals and four assists to the box score. According to whoscored, Ruiz has a match rating of 7.46 and has been the man of the match one time.

Offensively, Fabian is averaging 2.6 shot per game, 1.6 key passes per game and 1.6 dribbles per games. The passing is what really separates Ruiz from other players as the midfielder is averaging 67.6 passes per game with a passing success rate of 88.5%.

Compare those stats to Kevin de Bruyne, who many consider the best passing midfielder in the world, who averages 46.4 passes per game with an 82.9% passing rate. Defensively Ruiz is a work in progress, but he has averaged 1.9 tackles, and 1.6 interceptions, per game this season.

According to ESPN FC, one key advantage Real Madrid have over the other big clubs is that Ruiz wants to be closer to home and Madrid is about five hours closer to his hometown of Los Palacios y Villafranca, in Seville, than Barcelona is.

Should he decide to join Real Madrid, and Madrid decide to pay his hefty transfer fee, Ruiz seems the logical replacement for the aging Luka Modric who has been in a funk since the end of the 2018 World Cup. Ruiz may not be the only midfielder coming to Madrid as Los Blancos have been linked to Manchester United’s Paul Pogba for quite some time now and Sporting Lisbon’s Bruno Fernandes also seems like he will be landing in Madrid come January.

With Real Madrid likely having a lot of turnover next summer, Fabian Ruiz could be a nice addition who could star in Madrid for the next decade.

What are your thoughts on Fabian Ruiz and his fit with Real Madrid?