Yesterday’s truth is not that of tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and both Luka Modrić and Toni Kroos struggle to understand this. Legends of Real Madrid with whom they won 5 and 4 Champions Leagues respectively, the Croatian and the German are today much closer to the end than the beginning of their careers. However, both players remain clinging to the idea of playing leading roles in the club, despite a logical loss of speed given their now advanced ages (38 and 33 years old).
The first, still indisputable last season (33 La Liga matches), has seen its status decline in recent weeks. It’s simple, the 2018 Ballon d’Or has only played 242 minutes since the start of the year, almost half the playing time given to him by Carlo Ancelotti last season at this stage of the season ( 406). A situation that has the gift of annoying “Lukita” internally, as he had already expressed it during the international break in the Croatian media Sports news. “I just want to play, I signed an extension and I was told nothing would change in my status”declared the native of Zadar, who had also rejected several insistent offers from Saudi Arabia this summer.
The club now wants to focus on its youth
Starting this Wednesday during Real Madrid’s victory against Union Berlin in the Champions League (1-0), Modrić was able to make himself heard, but until when? According to Relevo, Madrid’s upper echelons would insist that Ancelotti focus more on youth, embodied by Eduardo Camavinga, Aurélien Tchouaméni and obviously Jude Bellingham, a jack of all trades at the start of the season. The objective would thus be to integrate the two seniors into the rotation, and to offer them to a certain extent a role of “guide”.
Faced with this situation, Toni Kroos would also feel irritated. Eager to regain his place as indisputable, as indicated by a source close to the club at Relevo, the German is champing at the bit, he who had also thought about retiring this summer, before finally extending his term. Since the start of the season, the 2014 world champion has only participated in 278 minutes of play (2 starts in 6 matches), which is also almost half as much as last season at this stage of the season (438). . With the rise of BTC, it is difficult to imagine the former Bavarian playing the leading role again, even if Carlo Ancelotti was more cautious at a press conference this week: “I know perfectly well what Modric and Kroos can bring me. I don’t need to test them. They will continue to be important”, he confided. Important, yes, but in the locker room or on the field?
