Is Casemiro in Real Madrid’s squad to face Celta Vigo?

Casemiro’s departure to Manchester United was the talk of Friday morning at Valdebebas. “He wants a new challenge,” explained Carlo Ancelotti in his pre-match press conference. The Brazilian, who was present at Valdebebas, is not travelling to Vigo to face Celta on Saturday. He is expected in Manchester in the next few hours. Casemiro did most of the training session with the rest of his team-mates but left before the end.

As if that wasn’t enough, Casemiro’s departure was not the only thing concerning Ancelotti. The Italian has found himself without Toni Kroos, who is suffering from a bout of flu. The German is also out for the trip to Balaídos and will force his manager to look for other solutions in midfield. Rodrygo was also absent from training after failing to recover in time.

Faced with this situation, Ancelotti had to improvise and called up two home-grown midfielders for the training session. Mario Martín, Raúl’s Castilla number five, and Manuel Ángel, who occupies that position in Arbeloa’s Juvenil A team.

Ceballos’ chance

Kroos was a starter in Almería, but his absence leaves the door open for Ceballos, who came off the bench in both the Super Cup and at the Power Horse and could get his first chance of the season in the starting line-up against the Galician side.

Odriozola on the way out

Madrid are also expecting Odriozola to leave the club. The player from San Sebastian was absent from this morning’s session, although the official version is that he is still struggling with problems in his left calf that he has been carrying since last Thursday. The full-back is negotiating a move to Nottingham Forest, as AS reported, and will not go to Vigo.