A veteran starter, out of Champions League debut: His injury will prevent it

Real Madrid's players are still making the most of their summer vacations before the start of the 25/26 preseason, next August 4, at Ciudad Real Madrid. That call from Xabi Alonso can't be answered by a player who's been working for weeks to leave behind his new ailment.

One of the main subjects of the coaching staff's doubts is Ferland Mendy. Although the Frenchman wearing number 23 has proven to be a reliable player in defensive duties in recent years, he has done so intermittently and without consistent regularity. That lack of a steady rhythm, in which he has also alternated with notable instability in the physical department, has left him as a question mark yet to be solved.

Especially because his participation in the first team's sporting dynamics isn't expected soon. According to information published by MARCA, the reports handled in the Valdebebas offices bring terrible news for Xabi Alonso:  Ferland Mendy's injury won't be solved in September.

This means that the French left-back will continue recovering at the Valdebebas facilities while his teammates face the first full month of LaLiga 25/26... with the debut in the new edition of the Champions League on the horizon. Most predictions about this French defender's injury place its end in the month of October.

Two paths

Not even those recovery updates would be enough to put him back in the starting eleven. Álvaro Carreras's signing means his confirmed displacement from the starting line-up used by Xabi Alonso. At the same time, Fran García's strong performance in the Club World Cup puts the Castilian-Manchegan wearing number 20 at the same level in the competition to be the second option.

Without the possibility of being available for the start of the European campaign in September, Ferland Mendy's future is becoming even more complicated than expected. The player is starting to be mentioned as a transferable player, given the generational change already established in his favorite position.

Xabi Alonso could handle an alternative plan, however, to give new competitive utility to the Real Madrid footballer. As we have been able to confirm at Defensa Central, the Tolosa coach would have Ferland Mendy in mind as another center-back, within his renewed three-man defensive line.

Ferland Mendy could accept his conversion to another position in defense to avoid losing even more minutes of play than he would already have "scheduled" in advance. Not only because of the injury that would keep him off the field beyond September, but also because of the footballers who are currently competing with him and among themselves for his spot.