Real Madrid News
Real Madrid consider captain transferable, value him at over €100 million – report
One of the players in the Real Madrid dressing room whose image took the greatest hit last season was Federico Valverde, and not without reason.
The Uruguayan star, after all, was first involved in a feud with the manager and refused to play at right-back despite the team’s needs.
Then, he engaged in an unnecessary fight with Aurelien Tchouameni in the dressing room. While he did come out the more injured in the duel, he was the initiator of the fight according to multiple sources.
Valverde can be sold
As reported by Miguel Serrano (h/t Defensa Central) in a recent update, Federico Valverde is no longer considered untransferable by Real Madrid. The club are in need of funds, and they see great value and potential in the captain’s departure.
Los Blancos know that he is one of the most valuable players in. the current crop of players and that they can get €100 million or more for the midfielder. He is, in that sense, considered saleable as early as the ongoing transfer window.
The report also adds that Real Madrid publicly maintaining Valverde to be a crucial part of their plans is also a ploy, for any reports of them not rating the player will cause his valuation to fall.
Thus, they plan to keep insisting that the Uruguayan player is untransferable, and hope that a massive offer arrives. After all, they do not see it as feasible to keep both Tchouameni and Valverde after the incident last season.
Back early from the World Cup
Valverde’s Uruguay were eliminated from the FIFA World Cup in the group stages, creating one of the biggest upsets of the edition. The player even took responsibility for the defeat and apologised to the fans after the elimination.
His early elimination, however, comes as music to the ears of Jose Mourinho who can now count on the club captain from early on in pre-season.
Valverde, alongside Arda Guler, is expected to join pre-season as early as the second week and will thus get sufficient time to impress Mourinho and understand his dynamics.
His best chance at avoiding a departure in his first full season as the first-team captain, thus, is to impress Mourinho early on.
Real Madrid will be looking to pick up their fifth win of the 2026/27 La Liga season when they take on Elche CF at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero later tonight.
With 12 points from five games, Los Blancos are currently second in the league table, three points below leaders FC Barcelona.
As such, the Spanish capital club will be eager to get the win and close the gap to the top.
Guler starts, Bellingham rested
Ahead of kickoff, Real Madrid have announced the starting lineup that will take the field against Elche, with Jose Mourinho making some important changes.
For starters, Arda Guler is back in the lineup after appearing as a substitute in the win over Rayo Vallecano.
Interestingly, however, he starts in the attacking midfield role, with Mourinho opting to rest Jude Bellingham, who has started all of Real Madrid’s games so far.
That also means that Yan Diomande retains his place in the team, starting for a second time in a row on the right wing. Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. continue in their respective positions in attack.
Another notable change sees Aurelien Tchouameni make his first start of the season after recovering from injury and making two appearances off the bench.
He replaces Bernardo Silva as Federico Valverde’s partner in the middle of the park.
Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Marc Cucurella come in as full-backs, while Ibrahima Konate and Dean Huijsen slot in at centre-back in front of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
📋✅ ¡Nuestro XI inicial!
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) September 15, 2026
🆚 @ElcheCF
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