3 Real Madrid players who should get more minutes in 2022

The new year is upon us, and it’s a time for new beginnings. It’s a fresh start for many and an opportunity to achieve goals and milestones.

For many football players worldwide, it’s a goal in and of itself to even end up at a club like Real Madrid but thriving in the Spanish capital is a whole different ball game.

There is a crop of players currently at Real Madrid bidding for time and even finding it difficult to make a breakthrough in the starting lineup, let alone get significant minutes for the club.

The usual performers such as Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and Thibaut Courtois don’t fall under that bracket whatsoever. They have their positions at the club secure deservedly so.

However, many don’t have the status that the likes of Benzema and Modric have and often find it challenging to make their mark in the squad.

Opportunities come few and far between at Real Madrid, but some players deserve a chance to shine at the club and can undoubtedly benefit from gaining more minutes.

The new year is upon us, which sets up a perfect chance for Carlo Ancelotti to provide minutes to players who deserve an opportunity at Real Madrid.

That said, here are three Real Madrid players who should get more minutes in 2022.

Fede Valverde

Fede Valverde lit the world on fire in Real Madrid’s 2019/20 season. At one point, he was a common name in the starting lineup and was even ahead of the rotation over Luka Modrić.

Those days now seem long gone as Valverde hasn’t featured as prominently for Los Blancos since. While he’s not entirely to blame, given that Toni Kroos and Luka Modric have been ever so crucial for Real Madrid and are practically undroppable, there’s no denying that the Uruguayan international needs to be playing regularly for his development.

Valverde would undoubtedly benefit from receiving more minutes. With the midfielder considered an integral part of Real Madrid’s future, granting him more play time would help both the club and the player.

The Uruguayan international doesn’t necessarily bring forth the vision of Kroos or the suave of Modrić, but instead, his intensity could prove to be a massive asset for Real Madrid.

Valverde has a high octane playstyle about him, and he’d be a perfect fit for Carlo Ancelotti’s attacking system, given he could get significant minutes for Real Madrid.

While it is difficult for Ancelotti to drop one of Kroos or Modric in place for Valverde, he has opted to use the Uruguyan as an inverted wide midfielder or simply as a right-winger at times this season.

He hasn’t been precisely as comfortable situated out wide. Still, it is a viable opportunity for him to claim more minutes, given that Real Madrid hasn’t exactly had a proven starter for the right-wing position.

It’s finally time for Valverde to get the minutes he deserves. With Kroos and Modric not getting any younger, 2022 could be the perfect opportunity to begin the transition of Real Madrid’s midfield, and there’s no better time than now to do so.