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First game – Milan
It is not today that we finally see Mbappe wearing the white shirt, but it’s the first game of the pre-season. We’ll see Endrick playing for the first time.
Carlo Ancelotti used two teams in training today:
– Team A: Courtois, Lucas, Rüdiger, Vallejo, Fran, Mario Martín, Modric, Ceballos, Arda, Brahim and Endrick.
– Team B: Lunin, Joan, Jacobo, Asencio, Loren, Nico, Palacios, Obrador, Álvaro, Jeremy and Latasa.
This confirms that Vallejo returned already to training.
Ancelotti comments
When asked if Bellingham would replace Kroos, Carlo dismissed it again, saying Jude likes to go inside the box and the closer he is to the the box the better.
Ancelotti also did not confirmed what system he has in mind:
We can use a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2, like we did last year. Sometimes we played 4-3-3, sometimes it was a 4-2-3-1 and sometimes it was a 4-4-2. We have the resources in this squad to play in these systems.
Carlo confirmed Endrick will play 45 minutes today.
Seven days to full squad
Viní Jr, Rodrygo and Militão will return to training on Friday. The rest of the squad, since they reached longer stages of Copa America/EURO, will return later, on August 7th: Mbappe, Bellingham, Valverde, Carvajal, Camavinga, Tchoaumeni and Mendy.
Pintus’ preparations
️ Antonio Pintus: “Normally, the preseason is divided into an aerobic phase of volume, then a phase of high intensity where the volume is reduced – but the intensity increases, the explosiveness increases, and the last phase is done with accelerations.
If the players arrived… pic.twitter.com/13nf7SmEIL
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) July 30, 2024
Martinez continues to drags attention
Carlo Ancelotti’s words to Joan Martinez during yesterday training were “move it faster, move it quickly”
Joan Martinez had a tough task yesterday- to stop Güler, Endrick & Brahim trio, but the result was better than expected.
Real Madrid are happy with Joan’s personality at… pic.twitter.com/42MRdziLav
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) July 30, 2024
No CB signing
No CB signing – “handle this, Ancelotti”
Carlo Ancelotti has asked for a CB, but the club have told him that they have confidence in his ability to make the best use of limited resources and that the situation will be reviewed after December.
Ancelotti has confirmed yesterday in the press-conference that the squad is close, mentioning that Alaba is recovering and Militao is back.
BUT… Real Madrid are working secretly to sign Mastantuono for about €25M:
Real Madrid had internal debates about Franco Mastantuono, but they have now decided to go for the signing. Solari is the driving force, he insisted on signing the player & informed the club that they will not regret it.
Would this signing to happen only in the next transfer window (December) instead of the current one?