Real Madrid have officially announced another brutal injury, and though it is not one that will affect the team much nor is it one that is particularly devastating from a sporting perspective, it is, perhaps, most sad from a human perspective.
Because once again, Real Madrid left back Ferland Mendy, whose shutdown defense brought titles to the club, is out for an extended period of time. The Frenchman has reinjured the proximal tendon in his right thigh, which was the same injury he suffered in April last year that required surgery and cost him six months of action.
Mendy has been on and off with injuries throughout his career, and, somehow, they are getting worse and more recurrent. This is just the latest mishap, which includes Mendy only recently coming back from injury to shine in the Champions League - only to get injured again immediately after.
Ferland Mendy is injured once more
When healthy, Real Madrid fans know that for all the money spent on Alvaro Carreras from Benfica last summer transfer windnow, Ferland Mendy is the No. 1 left back at the Santiago Bernabeu. He has the intensity, defensive quality, leadership, and consistency required to be a starter at this club, which cannot be said for either Carreras or Fran Garcia.
But Real Madrid need players they can count on every week. They cannot count on Alvaro right now because he is crazy inconsistent, and they cannot count on Fran because he is too weak of a player. But Mendy, despite being better than the others and a proven Champions League winner as a rock of a top defense, is perhaps the least reliable of them all due to his lack of availability.
No matter a player's ability, their availability is what counts the most. Real Madrid, sadly, cannot count on Mendy, and as sad as it is to put the feeling and the thought into words on a screen, the reality is that Real are better off drawing the line in the sand on Mendy. Though his proneness to injury and wages will scare off other clubs, there will still be plenty, especially those with ambitions of Champions League glory in Turkey, who will make a play for the French fullback.
Real Madrid have to sell, at this point. They are in a holding pattern with Mendy, as he is merely another warm body with some theoretical upside but with a reality that is more bleak. He cannot be counted on.
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