Real Madrid News
Real Madrid and Ancelotti’s entourage deny agreement between the coach and Brazil NT
Carlo Ancelotti’s links with the Brazilian national team are nothing new. The Real Madrid coach was identified as one of the top candidates ever since Tite was relieved of his duties as the head coach of the Selecao.
But recently, a bombshell report suggested that Ancelotti has gone on to reach an agreement with the Brazilian footballing federation and was set to become the head coach for the Brazilian national team in the coming summer.
However, a fresh report from Mario Cortegana of The Athletic has refuted the speculations, claiming that Real Madrid and Ancelotti’s entourage have denied any agreement between the coach and Brazil.
Cortegana goes on to claim that the Brazilian FA is even planning to come up with an official statement regarding the same. It appears they have been alarmed by the speculation that become viral shortly after the rumours broke.
The South American giants have been looking for a new coach ever since their debacle at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where they were knocked out by Croatia in the quarterfinals.
Unsurprisingly, Ancelotti was picked as one of the leading candidates to replace Tite, owing to his vast experience and track record of being a proven winner.
But with the Italian’s contract at Real Madrid not expiring until 2024. the Brazilian FA has had complications securing his services.
Spanish journalist Jose Luis Sanchez claims Ancelotti has no plans to prematurely end his contract at Real Madrid either and wants to stay until 2024.
However, it must be noted that Real Madrid have performed quite poorly in La Liga this term and are on course to hand the league title to FC Barcelona.
One would expect Ancelotti’s future at Santiago Bernabeu to be in serious doubt if Los Blancos fail to excel at other competitions including the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid are blessed to have the services and loyalty of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. The duo have run the show in the Merengues’ midfield for close to a decade and continue to deliver flawless performances to date.
Of the two, however, it is the Croatian who deserves the higher credit. The veteran is now 37 years of age, yet dominates the middle of the park with grace and poise like none other.
Stephen Estuaqio, an FC Porto player and Canada International, spoke earlier this week about why he considered Luka Modric to be a special player and compared him with Kevin de Bruyne to support his stance.
“I played against De Bruyne, but I ran behind Modrić. I couldn’t play against him. It’s crazy how he dictates the game and controls everything. It was a lesson for me,” he said on The 90th minute on Youtube.
With his contract running out next season, Real Madrid are looking to renew his deal by one year come June. Yet, it is difficult to see him continue beyond next season and his imminent departure will mark the end of an era at the club.
Thus, Modric could be an altered role come next season. With a young midfielder, possibly Jude Bellingham set to arrive, the veteran could move into a mentorship role with the occasional appearance in big games.
This season, however, Carlo Ancelotti will continue to use him as one of the backbones of the side and deploy the maestro in the must-win fixtures coming up later this month.
At 37 years of age, Modric has started 16 La Liga games over 24 appearances this season in the competition. He has scored four goals and provided three assists in that process in addition to creating eight big chances with an average of 1.8 key passes per game.
