Real Madrid contract extensions update: Benzema, Modric, Kroos, Nacho, Ceballos...
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti discussed the progress the club is making in talks with its out-of-contract players.
With a Champions League quarter-final coming up, and their ticket booked to May’s Copa del Rey final, Real Madrid have plenty to get their teeth into on the pitch. Off it, meanwhile, the club also have work to do.
“Progress is being made” - Ancelotti
With three months to go until their contracts expire, Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday that “progress is being made” in talks over new deals for Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. There is fluid communication between Los Blancos and all three club legends, and Madrid are particularly confident they’ll resolve Benzema and Modric’s futures, describing negotiations over their extensions as straightforward and on track. As for Kroos, who is thought to be considering retirement at the end of the season, the ball is currently in the German’s court.
Madrid are also by no means pushing the panic button when it comes to sorting out the future of defender Nacho Fernández, another player who is out of contract at the end of the season.
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Out-of-contract veterans showing Real value
As Madrid plan their squad for next term, the Spanish and European champions have lined up an initial batch of summer recruits: forward Brahim Díaz is set to return from his loan spell at AC Milan, left-back Fran García is to rejoin the club from Rayo Vallecano, and an understudy at No. 9 could also arrive. Albeit Madrid are relaxed about the situation, Benzema, Modric, Kroos and Nacho’s contract extensions are another key issue. Each of the quartet is among the eight players most frequently used by Ancelotti this term, and they’re performing excellently.
Benzema has just scored two hat-tricks in the space of four days, while Modric has 12 goal involvements this term - he has scored six and set up six. Kroos has benefited physically from the break he now gets during international weeks, having retired from Germany duty in 2021. In the March international window, the 33-year-old followed a specific training plan that bore fruit in recent days: he played the full 90 minutes back-to-back in the thrashings of Real Valladolid and Barcelona. In the 4-0 victory at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, he managed more ball recoveries - seven - than any other Madrid player.
Ceballos says Madrid yet to call about contract
Spots have been reserved for Benzema, Modric, Kroos and Nacho in Madrid’s 2023/24 squad - and, judging by Ancelotti’s words, there’ll be space for another player who becomes a free agent in June: Dani Ceballos. On Friday, he pointed to the midfielder as he discussed the youngsters poised to take the baton from Madrid’s legendary stalwarts when they depart. “We have fantastic young players such as Tchouaméni, Valverde, Camavinga and Ceballos,” Ancelotti told reporters as he looked ahead to Madrid’s LaLiga clash with Villarreal this weekend. “They’re going to have an enormous impact on the game in the years to come.”
However, talks over a new contract for Ceballos appear to be at a slightly strange impasse. The most recent news we’ve had on the subject, delivered by the player himself in an interview with Spanish TV show El Chiringuito two weeks ago, is that Madrid “haven’t called yet”. Following the Andalusian’s emergence into a more prominent first-team role after the turn of the year, AS reported in January that the club was in favour of handing him a new contract, as long as he kept up the good form he showed in early 2023. Although Modric and Kroos have since relegated Ceballos back to a more restricted role, Ancelotti’s stance remains that the 26-year-old is a very useful player. In addition to his latest public vote of confidence in the Real Betis academy graduate, he has also offered plenty in private.
The club and the players will have the final word, but in a summer when Madrid’s chief priority is to lure Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham to Spain, Ancelotti’s words and actions indicate that he feels these five contract renewals would also represent significant signings for next season.