Brahim can't catch a break
The young Malagueño suffered two injuries to start the season but is back now but the 20-year-old hasn't played a single minute this season at Real Madrid.
The season started on a bad note for Brahim Díaz. Two muscle injuries have left the young attacking midfielder without a minute so far despite the lack of options available to Zinedine Zidane. The former Manchester City player, along with Nacho, Rodrygo, Mariano and the recently-arrived Areola are the only players not to see the field so far this term for Zinedine Zidane.
Diaz' desire to stay at Real Madrid this season was remarkable and while a loan deal might have been the more tempting option, Zidane told him before he jetted off on his summer holidays to stay calm and that the Frenchman was counting on him.
Brahim finds himself still stuck in preseason as he fights to get fit and up to the same tempo as his teammates. The plague of injuries that Real Madrid have suffered (with Modric and Isco still out) hit him particularly hard when he felt discomfort in his left hamstring after arriving in Montreal, which kept him out for 32 days. He returned to training after that injury but just five days later, he was struck down with a thigh injury that has kept him out for 22 days.
Brahim's never-ending road to recovery
He returned to training with the group during the international break recently and while he has two weeks of work under his belt, it's still too soon for him to make himself available for Zidane. Given the slate of injuries within the squad, Zidane is slow to reintroduce those affected for fear of recurring problems. And Brahim has a job on his hands to break into the team with the games coming thick and fast and with Real Madrid trying to maintain their grip at the top of the table.
Signed last January, Brahim had the chance to show Zidane what he had to offer and he was one of the few who walked away at the end of the season with a good feeling; he scored a goal and offered two assist during the minutes Zidane unleashed him. He debuted under Solari at Betis but it was only when Zidane returned that he really start to perfom. He started in four of the last five games to wrap up the season and his goal against Real Sociedad, his first in a Real Madrid shirt, was a beauty.
The 20-year-old won't have it easy even when he is fit. Benzema and Hazard are undisputed starters and that leaves just one or possibly two places available in the team with Bale and James currently occupying them and playing to a very good level. The other vying for those positions are Isco, Vinicius, Lucas Vazquez and Rodrygo. The Copa del Rey, the competition where squad players normally get a chance to shine, doesn't start for Madrid until January and there will be no return leg at the Bernabéu. He will have to keep working and take any chance he gets as his season struggles to kick into gear.