Real Madrid is bothered by injuries. Trainer Carlo Ancelotti gradually run out of the options on the defensive. Fredi Bobic is therefore strong in conversation with Sport1 for an almost forgotten squad player.
Personnel worries at Real Madrid rise immeasurably, the emergency situation could not be greater – especially in defense.
Due to the long-term failure of the long-term failure of the-already blocked-national player Antonio Rüdiger (meniscus surgery), ex-Bayern stars David Alaba (inner meniscus tear in the left knee) and Ferland Mendy (tendon tear in the back right thigh) are only four (!) Nominal defender throughout the squad.
Jesús Vallejo could play an important role at Real Madrid in the end of the season.
The defenders go out Real Madrid
These include the long -running favorites Raúl Asencio, Fran García and Lucas Vázquez, but also Jesús Vallejo, which is almost forgotten.
The Spanish central defender was at least 41 times in the royal squad in the current season, but only comes to ten minutes’ drive! A short assignment on September 24th in the 3-2 home success against Deportivo Alavés is available, otherwise Vallejo from Ancelotti was not taken into account.
But now that the hospital at Real continues to grow, no way is leaving Vallejo.
With Fredi Bobic, Vallejo has at least one advocate: “I would be happy if he gets his chance. He is always ready when he is needed,” confirms the expert in an interview with Sport1 .
“He played outstandingly in Frankfurt”
Bobic knows Vallejo very well. At his time as a sports director at Eintracht Frankfurt, he had brought the Spaniard to the Main on a loan in summer 2016. There the Spaniard knew how to impress and developed into a fixture at the Hesse.
“He played outstandingly in Frankfurt and then signed the big contract at Real,” says Bobic: “I know that it was his dream to play with Real Madrid. The contract made him very proud.”
But since his return to Madrid, Vallejo had had difficulty focusing on and was hardly taken into account.
“If you choose the world’s biggest club, of course, it is not easy to assert yourself. Of course, it has brutal competition, you have to say that very clearly. Real always strives for the highest,” notes Bobic.
Vallejo was actually acted as the successor to ex-defense chief Pepe, who joined Besiktas Istanbul in 2017 before ending his career at FC Porto in 2024. However, it quickly became clear that Vallejo was not trusted in Madrid – at least not yet.
This was followed by another loan business to the Wolverhampton Wanderers and a total of three borrowing to Laliga competitor Granada. “In the meantime, he was also awarded that he would get more game practice. Maybe you thought of a sale, but somehow he ended up at Real,” explains Bobic.
“It already looks strange that he has been awarded again and again over the years, but his contract at Real was still extended again and again. They still keep big pieces on him, otherwise he would not be there anymore. Otherwise they would certainly have paid him out or sold it somewhere,” said Bobic.
In Madrid you will still be happy to have recorded Vallejo.
Will Vallejo be the next eric dier?
“Now maybe his time is coming to get his games – also because of the injuries,” believes Bobic.
He draws the comparison to Eric dier, who has been filling the role of the injured dayot upamecano in the central defense for weeks, but is supposed to leave the German record champions in summer and will join the AS Monaco.
“He is like Eric dier at FC Bayern Munich: You know, if you need it, you can always use it. Otherwise he would also sit on the bench, do not make a stunk and always train great,” says Bobic for Vallejo.
The current department head from the Polish first division club Legia Warsaw is firmly convinced that Vallejo can help the Madrilenen enormously in the current situation: “He is very modest and disciplined. He will always give a hundred percent. That he can kick that.”
Vallejo from Ancelotti hardly taken into account
A kind of player that is not entirely unimportant for Bobic. “There are squad players, role players – as they say so nicely. And now he may have to fill out a role.”
However, it remains to be seen whether Vallejo actually gets the chance. Because in the past, Ancelotti always had the trained midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni played in central defense. “Ancelotti relies on the top people with experience and sometimes lets someone play in a foreign position – he likes to do that.”
Bobic even considers it possible that Vallejo will come across too “shy” or too “humble”. “He is a very frugal person who has no great demands.”
Sometimes also a reason why Bobic is so impressed by his down-to-earth ex-protégé. As he revealed to Sport1 , he would have liked to bring Vallejo 2020 back to Frankfurt. “We were going, but he was already heading towards Wolverhampton. The economic one was no longer stampable at the end of the day. We tried it, but there was no chance.”