Zidane speaks about Real Madrid’s potential departures

Zinedine Zidane talked to the press ahead of Monday’s rare away match against Leganes and addressed the status of some of his players, starting with Marcos Llorente.

“We’ll see what happens next season. I’ve known him for a long time, we were together at Castilla and he’s improving all the time. The only thing that he needs is to play more because that’ll do him good. I remember that when he played regularly at Alavés he had a superb season,” said Zidane of the Spanish midfielder.

It’s important to note that Llorente didn’t get relevant minutes with Zidane last season, but his performances this year have been very solid and he could be a quality player for the club, even though Zidane has not confirmed that he wants Llorente to stay.

“All of the players that are here are good and important ones. The only thing that I’m going to say is that there will be changes. Because those changes won’t be made now but at the end of the season means that all will be revealed then. We’ll see the changes and the players who’re going to stay on. I’m going to use Toni in these games. It’s got nothing to do with how much he has played this season, I wanted to take a look at other players and Toni is a very good player,” explained the coach.

Zidane also revealed that Courtois has not recovered from his injury yet while also explaining what’s happening with Toni Kroos, who missed Sunday’s training session.

“He’s not feeling right, it’s not just one bit of discomfort, he’s got two or three issues. It’s more than one problem and when that’s the case it’s best not to take any risks. Kroos has a touch of gastroenteritis. He had a bad night, he didn’t come to training today and we’ll have to see how things progress between today and tomorrow, but he wasn’t well enough to come in today,” said the Frenchman.

Zidane also explained that he’s not going to meet the players one on one to talk about their future just yet.

“I’ll be having those conversations but not for the time being. We’ve got games at the moment and have seven more to go. There’ll be time to talk about things later on. We’re not going to let all of them go, but I’m not going to tell you how will be leaving,” said the coach.

Much has been said about Isco and today was not different. Zidane was asked about how much money Real Madrid can make if they sell the Spanish midfielder, even though the Frenchman has shown faith and trust in him.

“There are a lot of players here that we could make money on because they’re all really good. There are many clubs that want to sign Madrid players, that’s nothing new. Isco is an important player, I like him and we’ll have to see what happens next season. You know what I think of Isco, I’m not going to say any more about him,” said Zidane.

Real Madrid face Leganes with little to play for but Zidane wants his team to perform in order to finish this campaign in a good position.

“The good thing is that nobody looks to hide here, they all want to play and are training really well. All of them have been available this week, barring the two or three injured players. Although it’s not easy, we have to show our motivation, not to win any silverware, but to finish second because that can alter a lot of things,” concluded the coach.