Real Madrid News
Real Madrid will put injury-prone star up for sale in the January transfer window – report
Ferland Mendy has had a frustrating past year or so at Real Madrid with niggling fitness problems stopping him from establishing himself as a regular in the starting XI.
Even though manager Carlo Ancelotti continues to place his trust in the Frenchman, especially when it comes to the big games, it appears that patience is starting to wear thin with the left-back and his recurring injury problems.
Real Madrid will try to sell Mendy in January
In fact, reports in Spain, as relayed by SPORT, are now claiming that Real Madrid will try and get rid of Ferland Mendy as early as the upcoming January transfer window.
Los Blancos had already made him available for a transfer during the summer and were looking for a fee of around €50 million, which would be the sum they will need to sign Alphonso Davies from Bayern Munich next summer.
However, the only offer that came through for Mendy from Saudi Arabia, which the player was reluctant to even listen to, that led to him staying put.
But with Mendy entering the final 18 months of his contract in January, Real Madrid believe that the time is right for them to part ways with him and rake in some cash from his sale.
As such, if an interesting offer was to come along for him in the winter, Los Merengues will do their best to convince him to accept it.
Injuries a major concern
Mendy joined Real Madrid from Olympique Lyon in 2019, to replace Marcelo as the first-choice left-back in the long run.
Even though he showed progress, the Frenchman has struggled quite a bit with his fitness problems over the past couple of seasons, while Real Madrid are also not convinced by his attacking qualities.
After having already missed five games this season through injury, Mendy suffered a muscle overload during last week’s El Clasico and is a minor doubt for the upcoming game against Rayo Vallecano.
In total, he has missed as many as 59 official matches due to injury at Real Madrid and as such, it does not come as a surprise to see the club wanting to cut ties.
Real Madrid are back in the Champions League following their impressive win against Cadiz on the weekend as they host Napoli at the Santiago Bernabeu for gameweek five.
They have already secured qualification to the round of 16, and even a point today would secure first place in the group.
With several players still injured, Carlo Ancelotti has opted for his best available starting lineup, with Daniel Carvajal taking responsibility of the captain’s armband at right-back. He will be aided by Ferland Mendy, who starts on the other side.
Meanwhile, in between them, David Alaba returns to the fold as the starting centre-back, partnering Antonio Rudiger. This duo has the responsibility of screening Andriy Lunin, who continues in goal in Kepa and Thibaut Courtois’ absence.
With both Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni out, Toni Kroos gets the chance to play as the holding midfielder for two games in a row. Federico Valverde retains his spot, as well, while Dani Ceballos comes in for the injured Luka Modric in central midfield.
Rodrygo will spearhead the team’s frontline as one of the two twin forwards, while Brahim Diaz gets the nod over Joselu. Jude Bellingham is the final, and arguably the most important piece of the puzzle, playing behind the front-two.
📋✅ Our starting 𝗫𝗜!
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) November 29, 2023
🆚 @en_sscnapoli #UCL pic.twitter.com/MarLb7TavA
Confirmed Madrid XI: Lunin; Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Mendy; Valverde, Kroos, Ceballos; Bellingham; Diaz, Rodrygo
