After a good deal of panicking and uncertainty about what the future might hold for Marcelo, the Brazilian fullback returned to Real Madrid training Saturday.
Everyone remain calm. Marcelo is not following Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus this summer. After reports that the defender had gone “AWOL” and failed to report back to the Valdebebas on time, he showed up on Saturday without a care in the world.
Training alongside countrymen Casemiro and new assistant coach Albert Celades, Marcelo looked very relaxed and sharp after taking the last month off after the World Cup.
The two Brazilian internationals and their new coach went through a shorter session that featured, “speed-based exercises with and without the ball before finishing off with a series of running drills.”
The two are back in plenty of time to be ready for the UEFA Super Cup in Estonia on August 15th against Atletico Madrid and will likely get their first match action of the new campaign when the team faces AC Milan for the Santiago Bernabéu Trophy in just under a week.
Madridistas will also be happy to know that World Cup winner Raphael Varane and Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic both returned to the training pitch on Sunday and are beginning their preparations for the season alongside the Brazilians.
👋🔙 Two more madridistas started their pre-season today! Welcome back, @raphaelvarane and @Mateo_Kova23! #RMCity pic.twitter.com/eTbY723k4c
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) August 5, 2018
Kovacic is yet another Madrid player who fans have kept a close eye thus far this summer as the number 23 has voiced his displeasure in the lack of starts he receives. Manchester United, Inter Milan, Napoli, and several other big clubs across Europe are still in the hunt.
This is a good sign that he will stick around in Spain for at least the fall. I wouldn’t have expected him to report to training of all the players who have been rumored to be on their way out.
Luka Modric is still yet to report back to training, but again, there is no need to panic here readers! Luka is still on vacation and enjoying some much needed time off after leading his Croatian side to an impressive runner-up finish in Russia.
Let’s just be happy both Marcelo and Mateo are back in training and then start worrying about Luka in a few days if he is still not back in training.