8 days for Lopetegui to resolve 8 players’ futures at Real Madrid

Time is ticking for Julen Lopetegui as the closure of the summer market lurks closer with the Basque coach currently using 27 players (five of which are goalkeepers: Courtois, Navas, Zidane, Lunin and Casilla). The coach also needs to decide if he plans to include the likes of Vallejo, Coentrao, Mayoral and Marcos Llorente in his definitive 25 man 2018-19 season squad.

The young Ukrainian stopper featured for 84 minutes as part of Real Madrid’s pre season action in both the 2018 International Champions Cup and the Trofeo Bernabéu. Both Madrid based clubs Leganes and top flight new comers Rayo Vallecano have been linked with the 19-year-old’s services for the forthcoming season as a loan deal.

Kiko Casilla

The arrival of Belgian Courtois at Real Madrid has had a knock-on-effect in the pecking order for key Real Madrid goalkeepers with Casilla now falling behind both Courtois and Navas. A loan move away from the Bernabeu would appear inevitable with Leganés and Sevilla interested in the stopper.

Luca Zidane

Luca Zidane is another who appears to play his 2018/19 season football away from the Santiago Bernabeu with a move to newly promoted second tier side Elche set to be announced. Zidane made his top flight debut for Real Madrid last season with the first team against Villarreal.

Fabio Coentrao

The Portuguese international is become an inconvenience for Real Madrid following playing the past two seasons in France with AS Monaco and last season in his native Portugal with Sporting CP. The ‘exit’ sign at the Santiago Bernabeu beckons for the 30-year-old.

Marcos Llorente

Many observers thought that the arrival of Lopetegui at Real Madrid would open the door for Llorente as an automatic replacement for Casemiro in a central role. Sadly for the Madrid born player, the pre-season has failed to convince the Basque coach with Ceballos being called upon to replace Casemiro during the Tallinn Super Cup and no place for the 23-year-old in the squad as Real Madrid dispatched Getafe in the 2018/19 season opener last weekend. Villarreal, Espanyol and Alavés have all shown interest in the players services.

Vinicius jr
The former Flamengo player was one of the higher profile summer acquisitions for Real Madrid with the Brazilian offering glimples of his talent in the International Champions Cup against Manchester United, Juventus and Roma. He also played briefly in the Trofeo Bernabéu but failed to secure any action in the UEFA Super Cup and LaLiga opener. Insiders report that the Brazilian is set to train with the Real Madrid first team squad but play in 2B for Real Madrid Castilla.Real Madrid Forward Spain