Few have covered themselves in glory from the current Real Madrid squad, and as legends like Toni Kroos point out all the problems in this side after they officially bequeathed the La Liga title to Barcelona for a second straight season with a trophy, an offseason of reckoning begins for the myriad of malcontents who have turned the dressing room into an apocolyptic nightmare.
And though Fede Valverde has been the spark for rumors of a new captaincy rule, few seem to realize that the actual captain and most senior player on Real Madrid is Dani Carvajal. And few even discuss this in the mainstream because Carvajal has been so absent as a leader and so woefully finished on the pitch that you'd be forgiven for forgetting him entirely.
Yet out of all the disappointing players on Real Madrid, you could argue that Carvajal has been the most disappointing, especially since he has hid behind so many of the younger players in the spotlight. Carvajal is most famous for complaining to Alvaro Arbeloa about minutes, injuring Victor Valdepenas in training, and reportedly throwing a fit behind the scenes when another young player, David Jimenz, got in the lineup over him.
Dani Carvajal is not going to the World Cup
Carvajal's sole goal, like Kylian Mbappe, was to use Real Madrid as a springboard for World Cup glory, but the reigning European Champion will not get his wish, as Luis de la Fuente and the national team have seen through his transparent acts at self promotion.
Officially, Carvajal has not even been named to the preliminary squad for the 2026 World Cup, placing him at a lower ranking than teenager Franco Mastantuono for Argentina, and he will therefore not be going to the World Cup.
It is nothing less than Dani Carvajal deserves. Carvajal will always be a legend and a bulldog who was a serial winner at the Champions League level - by far the best right back in the world and perhaps the greatest right back in the history of Real Madrid.
Instead of peacefully riding off into the sunset as a mentor for the young players, Carvajal showed an ugly set of colors totally unfitting for not only the captaincy, but the Real Madrid badge in general. Carvajal sacrificed the principles of winning for despondency and self indulgence, and there is no place for that kind of a player at Real Madrid or on the Spanish national team. Hopefully, Carvajal can resolve these internal conflicts in the summer, for the sake of his own career after Madrid.
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