Real Madrid dealt further David Alaba injury blow

Real Madrid defender David Alaba will return to Valdebebas for pre-season on Friday, but the Austria international still has no targeted return date after tearing an ACL back in December.

Alaba hasn't played for Madrid so far in 2024 and only went to the summer's European Championship with his country to provide off-field support and leadership.

There had already been fears that the former Bayern Munich star might miss a full calendar year and not return until 2025. Arguably more concerning now is the total lack of any estimated timeframe.

MARCA writes that Alaba’s ACL is "giving him more trouble than expected", compared to Eder Militao and Thibaut Courtois who recovered ahead of schedule. As a result, there are no deadlines from either Alaba or Madrid, with the only instruction that he will play when 100% fit and not before.

The recovery process has been slow and Alaba is yet to reach the stage of his rehab where is able to kick a ball. When he reports for training this week, it will be to continue individual work. The next incremental target is to run on grass as soon as possible, always a major step in ACL rehab.

Overall, it means Madrid go into the season with only a centre-back trio of Militao, Antonio Rudiger and Jesus Vallejo. The club had hoped to sign Leny Yoro but were only willing to offer Lille a lowball amount and lost out when Manchester United blew them out of the water. As it happened, Yoro suffered an injury during a pre-season friendly and has been ruled out until November.

Aurelien Tchouameni has been known to fill in at centre-back when called upon in an emergency. In hindsight, Nacho Fernandez's free transfer to Saudi Arabia has left the squad short at the back.

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