What the future holds for Carlo Ancelotti has become clear
Amid lingering speculation Carlo Ancelotti is in danger of being fired by Real Madrid, TEAMtalk can reveal the club’s intentions, the stance within the playing squad as well as what Florentino Perez plans to do in January.
Real Madrid have endured an uncharacteristically slow start to the campaign, leading to numerous reports in Spain speculating a change of manager could be on the horizon. Real Madrid currently trail Barcelona by six points in LaLiga and have lost two of their four matches in the expanded Champions League group phase.
Despite the natural and normal dissatisfaction of Florentino Perez after the heavy defeats against Barcelona and AC Milan, no one in the management of the Spanish club has ever really questioned Ancelotti’s position on the Real Madrid bench.
The board is well aware that there are objective difficulties, such as those related to the numerous injuries, and during the international break, together with the coach, they will take stock of the market.
It’s my understanding that if Carlo has any specific requests, Real Madrid and club president Perez will try to satisfy those demands for the Italian in January. Perez would not adopt that stance if Ancelotti’s position was under any serious threat.
Ancelotti still enjoys full confidence and no significant figure within the club has ever questioned his work so far.
The rumours of his possible dismissal, according to what sources told me this morning, were created by those who consider him an inconvenient figure and also want to undermine his reputation.
But to date, there is no evidence that Ancelotti could be questioned and/or sacked even in the coming weeks.
The Real Madrid dressing room is fully involved and despite some difficulties in Kylian Mbappe’s adaptation, they follow Ancelotti solidly and constantly.
The squad are confident that the complicated period in terms of performances will end soon and, in this sense, it has already been demonstrated with the morale-boosting 4-0 thumping of Osasuna prior to the international break.
I understand there are no changes in Real Madrid’s plans for next season: at the moment, the designated heir is Xabi Alonso who, as we reported one week ago, has already been discussing, positively and for a long time, the proposal directly with Florentino Perez.
Carlo has not yet planned his future after Real Madrid, his only goal now is to bring Los Blancos back to winning consistently and doing what he does best – lifting major honours at the business end of the season.
Latest Real Madrid news – Defensive additions coming
In other news, Spanish newspaper ABC reported Trent Alexander-Arnold is refusing to sign a new deal at Liverpool under current conditions.
The defender is Real Madrid’s No 1 target for the right-back position, though the report stressed a cut-price transfer in January appears highly unlikely. As such, Real Madrid’s hopes rest on signing the player via free agency at season’s end.
Elsewhere, reports in France claim Perez has brought plans to sign a new centre-back forward from the summer to the January window. That comes on the back of losing Eder Militao to a season-ending ACL injury.
The club have reportedly reached out to William Saliba’s camp, though Real Madrid acknowledge forging a deal with Arsenal in the winter window will be difficult in the extreme.