Real Madrid players who will be out of contract in 2021
Sergio Ramos isn’t the only Madrid player whose contract will expire either this June or at the end of next season. Six players must decide their future.
Sergio Ramos’ contract with Real Madrid will expire in June 2021 and as things stand, his future at the club remains up in the air. Madrid haven’t broached the subject yet as they feel there’s no need to; they’d prefer the whole squad to be focused on this season’s objectives – LaLiga and the Champions League. Ramos is reportedly keen to end his playing career at Madrid. It’s believed that he is hoping to negotiate a two-year extension and call time on what has been a glittering career in 2023. By that time, he will be 37 and while he has remained remarkably fit and avoided serious injury throughout his 30s, it’s still relatively old for a centre-back. Some defenders have managed to stay in the game beyond 37 – Amedeo Carboni was 41 when he hung up his boots at Valencia but that was an exception and things are handled very differently at Madrid. In general, players over the age of 32 are offered a maximum of a one-year extension – the most recent case with similarities to Ramos’ was Pepe, who ended up leaving in 2017, when he was 33. Like Ramos, Pepe was holding out for a two-year extension but Madrid were only prepared to offer him one year.
Luca Zidane's future
Two Madrid players had contracts running to June this year – Lucas Silva and Luca Zidane. The midfielder rescinded his contract in September last year and is now back home in Brazil with Grêmio. Luca Zidane is currently on loan at Racing Club Santander and will discuss his future with Madrid once he has completed his commitments at El Sardinero. The situation is the same as when he left With Courtois and Areola as the first team’s main two goalkeepers and Diego Altube as third choice, he would struggle to gain playing time in the current set-up.
Another busy summer for Luka Modric
Apart from Ramos, five other players will be sitting down with Madrid to review their contracts this summer. All of those cases are very different. Luka Modric renewed in 2016, adding an extra two years to his pre-existing arrangement with the club – he then added an extra year onto that arrangement, meaning that he will out of contract next year. Modric has been in excellent form this season. He has made 24 appearances – 16 of them in the starting XI. But by his own admission, he confessed that after the 2018 World Cup, regaining rhythm the following season was a big struggle for him. This summer, with Euro 2020, will also be a demanding one for Modric who will be on duty with Croatia (in the same group as England and Czech Republic). By the time his contract expires in 2021, he will be 35. Madrid have players coming through in his position but there is a chance he could be offered a one-year deal. That would depend on how the player feels about it and whether he wants see out his playing days somewhere else.
Lucas Vázquez is in the prime of his career. He’s still only 28 and has proved himself to be a handy fringe player during his time at the Bernabeu, coming on whenever the team needs a set of fresh legs. He was one of the players who could have left last summer but stayed on and has made 14 appearances this season - half of them coming off the bench. His situation will be resolved depending on his performances between now and the end of the season.
Injuries blight James' season
The same goes for James Rodríguez who will also be able to start negotiating with other clubs as from January 2021. He is also 28 but has found it difficult to break back into the side since returning from a two-year loan at Bayern Munich. The Colombian has been held back by fitness problems and in total, has appeared just 12 times and scored a couple of goals.
Borja Mayoral is in the second year of his loan at Levante. With Karim Benzema as the team’s reference in attack (his contract was also due to expire next year but he has agreed new terms), and Zidane using either Hazard or Jovic to partner him, the chances of first team action look slimmer than ever for the 22-year-old. Madrid could rake in a fee of around four million euros for Mayoral who says he is happy at Levante but will sit down to sort out his future when he gets back to the capital this summer.
Mariano Díaz has three years left to run on his contract but he too could follow Mayoral out of the club in the next transfer window.