Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti answered a question about replacing Fede Valverde and also revealed a final decision on a player sale following Sunday’s 3-0 win over Real Valladolid.
Los Blancos moved up to third place in La Liga after their first win of the season came via a maiden home outing for 2024/2025.
Fede Valverde opened the scoring, with some fans and onlookers suggesting that the Uruguayan who has inherited Toni Kroos’ number 8 shirt is currently irreplacable in the first team squad at a time when Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga are out injured.
Ancelotti only has one natural pivot to boast in Aurelien Tchouameni, which has forced Ancelotti to field him in a double defensive midfield partnership with Valverde in the 1-1 draw against Mallorca last time out and on this occasion.
Ancelotti stressed that Valverde “continues to progress” and “shows his personality”, but he also said that “for me it is difficult to say that he is a player who cannot be replaced in the squad”.
“His intelligence, his strength… it is a blessing to have him,” he also added about the 26-year-old, though.
Kylian Mbappe was again goalless in his Bernabeu debut and is yet to make it on the scoresheet in La Liga for his new employers.
Still Ancelotti talked his charge up calling him “a spectacular striker, very fast, very good without the ball”.
“He attacks from behind… he has had three, four situations [to score]. He doesn’t need to go left or right, in the end he will score goals,” Ancelotti predicted.
Who will be able to look back and say he netted in his first match in the iconic ground is Endrick.
Ancelotti remarked that the former Palmeiras prodigy “looks very good” and “showed his qualities in his goal”.
“He is very powerful in his strikes, he is a central striker,” noted Ancelotti, which certainly gives number 9 Mbappe something to think about.
Asked about the future of Andriy Lunin, who has been linked with a transfer away from the Spanish capital, Ancelotti confirmed Thibaut Courtois’ backup between the sticks “is going to stay”.