A disproportionate amount of attention has been placed on the shoulders of Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe as the 2025/26 La Liga season, which has been nothing short of a failure, winds down for the trophy less Royal Whites. Mbappe deserves criticism for his inability to adapt to the team, and it is undeniable that Real are a worse team now than they were before the French forward's arrival - though, of course, not all of that is necessarily the fault of the player himself.
But as Mbappe starts to make the rounds in the Spanish press for his squabbles with staff behind the scenes and for how some of his teammates view him disfavorably for his lack of effort on the pitch, there are actually other players offering far fewer positives to the club - and causing more backstage issues at the Valdebebas.
Although his salary is decidedly lower, Real Madrid actually paid a lot more to bring Alvaro Carreras back to the capital this summer after a promising 2024/25 season with Benfica. Carreras started the 2025/26 season positively but fell off a cliff in the second half, with his nadir coming after Michael Olise dog walked him all over the Santiago Bernabeu.
Alvaro Carreras is in the dog house
Now, Carreras is showing his true colors with the honeymoon period over, and instead of taking accountability for his benching, he seems to be trying to sow the seeds of dissent in the locker room by fighting with Alvaro Arbeloa and his teammates.
According to a report from Guillermo Rai and Mario Cortegana of The Athletic, Alvaro Carreras and Arbeloa have a lot of tension between them that has emerged this past month. The coaching staff are beginning to have complaints about Carreras's work ethic and attitude, and while those around Carreras are denying these rumblings to The Athletic, it is not the first fans have heard of issues with Carreras, who apparently had his ruffles with veteran center back Antonio Rudiger.
Carreras is clearly not endearing himself to anyone at Real Madrid. He, Dani Carvajal, Raul Asencio, and Dani Ceballos have become a cast of four unwanted Spanish internationals who have no hopes at the national team because they are playing very poorly, and because they know that fact deep down, they are instead lashing out at Alvaro Arbeloa and the club in an act of selfish revenge.
It is one thing for Kylian Mbappe to have his outbursts. He is a superstar player who scores goals. But for Carreras to do that after a big 50 million euro transfer with no World Cups or track record of success in world football, it is another thing entirely. And Florentino Perez isn't going to tolerate rubbish from Carreras like he might from Mbappe, who has at least been respectful to Arbeloa and hasn't been involved in real fights with teammates.
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