Real Madrid News
Chelsea midfielder likely to miss Real Madrid clash due to injury – report
Real Madrid and Chelsea will lock horns for the third time in a row in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages next week.
The European champions will host the Premier League big-spenders in the first leg of the UCL quarter-final at the Santiago Bernabeu on April 12 before travelling to Stamford Bridge for the second leg a week later.
Ahead of the clash at the Bernabeu, Chelsea have been dealt with an injury setback as midfielder Mason Mount is expected to miss the match against Real Madrid.
This claim comes from Simon Johnson of The Athletic, who is reporting that the England international has suffered a relapse of his abdomen injury.
Chelsea changed their managers recently, re-hiring Frank Lampard as a caretaker boss until the end of the season, replacing Graham Potter.
Mount had been a regular fixture in the starting lineups under Lampard during his previous stint as the Chelsea boss. The Englishman, however, had lost prominence during Potter’s reign and was being tipped to leave the club this summer.
But Lampard’s return provided a glimmer of hope that Mount would once again become an important player at Chelsea.
The 24-year-old midfielder has not played for the Blues since February due to an abdomen injury. He had returned to the bench for the last two games against Aston Villa and Liverpool and had trained normally in the lead-up to Chelsea’s game against Wolves today.
However, Mount’s name was missing when Lampard announced the first lineup of his second stint, with the academy graduate absent from the squad because of the reoccurrence of the injury.
Now, there are doubts over whether Mount will be available for Wednesday night’s match against Real Madrid.
While he may have not been a key player this term, the England star possesses quality in abundance and his possible absence will come as a boost for Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Arabia has triggered a wave of massive establishment within the country so much so that the league has approached players like Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Sergio Ramos and even Karim Benzema.
Benzema’s departure from Real Madrid is imminent and if a report from Diaro AS is to be believed, the Frenchman contacted his former Madrid teammate, Ronaldo, to ask him for information about the Saudi league, living conditions and other teams.
All this because it is said that the legendary Frenchman has received a lucrative offer from the newly crowned Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad. As reported before, the star striker will earn more than €100 million per year across his two-year contract with the Saudi team.
At the moment, the Saudi government has approved all of Benzema’s requests and while it is said that he can join the team of his choice, Al Ittihad’s recent flirting had made them absolute favourites.
That said, the transfer may have taken a u-turn recently, as Benzema spoke about staying at Real Madrid for the foreseeable future.
“Speak to the fans? Speak about what? Why should I speak of the future if I’m in Madrid?”, Benzema said.
“It’s the internet speaking, and reality is not the internet.”
In a recent turn of events, Helder Costa openly spoke about Benzema’s arrival, saying that his team is ‘excited about the arrival of the Balon d’Or winner.’ As if that is not enough, a club fan also showed a Karim Benzema edit on the big screen during their title celebrations.
Meanwhile, since the transfer is not confirmed, Real Madrid continue to be uninformed of Benzema’s decision. And this remains a major problem for the team from the capital city as their summer transfer plan hinges on the continuity of the Frenchman.
At the moment, the team is said to be closing in on the signing of Joselu from Espanyol. However, it must be noted that the forward will only be arriving on a season-long loan as Madrid already have big plans for the summer of 2024, with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe both lined up.
