Carlo Ancelotti insists he will look internally for a solution to fill the void left by Luka Modric’s absence through injury rather than turn to the transfer market.
The Croatian midfielder has been ruled out for the next three to four months with a thigh problem picked up on international duty this week. It is a huge blow to Real as the 27-year-old and summer signing Toni Kroos had formed a brilliant partnership in midfield that has seen Los Blancos enjoy a 13-game winning run in all competitions.
Ancelotti has a number of options to choose from, with Asier Illarramendi and Sami Khedira the obvious choices to replace Modric in the middle of the park. The Italian boss revealed yesterday that he’d be keen to try Isco in the middle as the 22-year-old is currently in a purple patch right now and playing well for club and country. Another alternative would be to turn to the youth players, and Alvaro Medran in particular has been touted as a possible replacement.
Speaking to Radio Nacional de Espana, Ancelotti insisted the solution already lies within the squad and he will not need to buy in January.
No [Real will not be buying in January], because we are able to replace Modric. We have other important players for this type of situation. Last year we had the same problem with the injury to [Sami] Khedira. We’ll fix it by putting in another midfielder,” Ancelotti said.
And he added: “We have the option of replacing him with Khedira, [Asier] Illarramendi and finally, we have the option of Isco, who does not have the habit of playing in the position but I think he can do it in some games.
“We have [Alvaro] Medran, a youngster from the Castilla who is doing very well and we like him. He may be an option at least to be with us.”
