Nacho was left in case of injury.
The start of Real Madrid’s summer transfer campaign is a guide on how to manage the generational change while maintaining the team’s style and philosophy. Creamy have not only completed the main transfer of the summer at the moment, but have also extended the contracts with their three leaders. Each of them is already over 30, the oldest is 37.
Goodbye postponed for a year
At the end of June, Luka Modric’s issue was nevertheless resolved: the 37-year-old midfielder officially extended his contract with the Spanish giant until 2024. At the same time, many tried to lure the Croatian to him. In April, it was reported that the Madrid bosses doubt whether it would be worth offering such an aging player a new contract, and by the end of the season, insiders began to appear that they wanted to bring Luka to Saudi Arabia. The teams of the exotic championship, after the arrival of Ronaldo, decided to make a change in the image of the championship, acquiring another Ballon d’Or winner and other top players. So, Al-Ahly was ready to pay the midfielder 80 million euros a year, but Modric wanted to continue playing for Real Madrid until the end of his career.
By the way, the Croatian midfielder is the last of the trio of senior players with whom the “creamy” has re-signed contracts. Before that, Nacho and Toni Kroos were extended, even until next summer. As in the case of Luka, the management of the Galacticos has analyzed for a long time whether to leave the Spanish center back and the German behind. Fernandez was never in the public eye—he was more likely to plug holes on the field. This season he has managed to play on both sides of the defence. At the same time, in the first part of the season, he was often in reserve. However, Nacho is a Real Madrid graduate, devoted to the club to him. He is a necessary part of the team structure – he doesn’t make scandals because of playing time, he is always ready to help the team, coming out at the beginning or end of the match. He always joins the game quickly and is reliable when there is no one to replace him. Positive qualities still outweighed.
Kroos himself had doubts about continuing his career – in the fall it was reported that the German midfielder was inclined to refuse a new contract with Real Madrid. True, his age did not prevent him from appearing regularly at the start and confidently looking at the center of the field. As a result, the start of the transfer window for the “creamy” can be considered successful: they kept the leaders of the midfield, plus they signed Jude Bellingham.
Keep playing
This decision has several sides of explanation. Intangible – this is how the club maintains the continuity of generations, recruits can play with the legends of Madrid, adopt the best traditions of the great Spaniard, so that later they themselves become their keepers. And more banal: they all continue to bring many benefits to the team.
The most striking and interesting example here is, of course, Modric. The Croatian is already 37 years old, but in one of the biggest clubs in the world he retains the status of leader on the pitch. Physical data doesn’t interfere with this. For the entire past season in La Liga, the midfielder missed only one match due to injury. The same goes for the Champions League. And this is with the competitive youth in the face of Camavinga and Valverde. Real Madrid still need his ability to set the pace in the early stages of the attack and break up pressure from the opposition.
As for Kroos, he missed matches a little more often – at the same time, the German was on the bench very rarely. Ancelotti varied the combinations in the center of the field – Tchuameni came out regularly as a defensive midfielder, and Modric or Toni rested, releasing Ceballos / Camavinga in their positions. By the way, often a German and a Croatian were on the field at the same time. And in the completed championship, Kroos was quite productive: 2 goals and 4 assists in 30 La Liga matches.
Nacho once again proved himself to be an excellent backup and versatile player. The Spaniard came out not only in central defense – he replaced Ferlan Mendy and Alaba on the left wing (Madrids have only one left-back profile), he came out on the right when Lucas Vazquez and Dani Carvajal were in the hospital. Real Madrid are not immune from a similar situation next season and Fernandez is a reliable and profitable option.
Postpone the generational change
In the case of these three, the desire to postpone the generational change is not harmful. Everyone is still raising the bar for “creamy”, and the club itself does not need to look for players in a hurry. The center of the field is still well equipped. A year earlier Casemiro had left: Aurélien Tchouameni had been hired in his place. Valverde and Camavinga are all-rounders who, in addition to the midfield, periodically meet on the flanks. Dani Ceballos is good both as a substitute and as a starter. Now the leading talent of the generation in England, Jude Bellingham, has joined this company. The young midfielder will certainly have plenty of time on the pitch right away – and Modric and Kroos will be able to spend more time in recovery.
If we talk about the center of defense, then there are no acute problems with it anyway. In addition to Nacho, there are 4 other central defenders in Real Madrid’s bid. It’s just worth finding another high quality rotation player for the future. Much more acute is the need to strengthen the flanks of the defense and find a top forward.
In general, Madrid do not have many personnel problems and by extending Kroos with Modric, they have eliminated one.
