Real Madrid: Early Squad Prediction for 2021-22 season

3. Real Madrid Midfielders:

Many of us have already guessed our midfielders for the upcoming season and it is pretty obvious. We will obviously have Casemiro with us to help out in defense. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos have done a brilliant job in holding the midfield spots all these years. But there seems a change this season.

With Modric being 35 years old, it won’t be right for him to start every game in the tournament. We have seen how lethargic he was by the end of the last season and it was pretty disheartening to see his energy drained out in Croatia’s last Euro game. But he will still feature in almost every game – either as a starter or as a substitute. What I believe is that he will start in all the major games and will have small cameos in the not-so-important ones.

So, who will replace him? Unlike last season, we have fairly more depth in the midfield. We are hoping for a season with fewer injuries this time. So, we can see Federico Valverde as a possible candidate who is another box-to-box midfielder.

Another possibility is Martin Odegaard. Since the start of pre-season training, we have seen how sharp he has looked. His long shots were accurate, his passes were pinpoint and he looked really comfortable. He was able to score a goal against Fuenlabrada in the warm-up match as well.

Apart from these two, we have Dani Ceballos and Isco Alarcon. Even though the two are up for sale, they would stay if a suitable offer is not received. Isco has been great so far. He has worked on his fitness even during vacation, and he has been motivated to impress Ancelotti to get enough game time. The recent reports say that Antonio Blanco will be Casemiro’s back-up, so we’ll see him too.