5 Real Madrid players who must impress in pre-season

Real Madrid are expected to carry out some serious transfer business in the next few weeks. That includes an exodus of first-team players after reports have emerged that the club's wage cap needs to be slashed by almost £150 million, in accordance with La Liga rules, before the start of the next season.

Real Madrid will look to trim their squad

Real Madrid's upcoming pre-season fixtures will be key in deciding the future of some of the first-team players as new manager Carlo Ancelotti looks to trim his squad.

The likes of Gareth Bale, Martin Odegaard and Luka Jovic have returned from their respective loan deals. Ancelotti is expected to provide a chance to all these players before deciding on their futures.

On that note, let's take a look at five Real Madrid players who need to impress in pre-season. Gareth Bale has been excluded from this list, as he has already worked with Ancelotti and might still have the opportunity to help out the first team better than some of the others on this list.

So without further ado, let's get started.

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#5 Daniel Ceballos

Daniel Ceballos returned to Real Madrid after a two-year loan spell at Arsenal.

Real Madrid signed Dani Ceballos from Real Betis in 2017, just weeks before the start of the new season.

He was a really skilful player and had performed brilliantly for Real Betis and Spain's under-21 team. But his first two seasons at Real Madrid didn't go according to plan. He started 38 of his 56 La Liga games he played, scoring just five goals.

In search of more playing time, Ceballos went on loan to Arsenal for the next two seasons. He started the first season brilliantly, but then simmered down a bit. Since then, Ceballos has only shown flashes of his brilliance but has not performed consistently.

His second season did not go too well, though. So, as expected, Arsenal chose not to sign the Spaniard on a permanent deal.

Now, under new manager Carlo Ancelotti, Dani Ceballos is back at Real Madrid. He will be determined to prove himself and fight for a place in the starting XI. He said after returning from Arsenal:

I really want to win at Real Madrid. I’ll fight to stay here. It’s clear. I would like to play at Real Madrid. But I have to know what the coach wants, and there have to be objectives. But my intention is to play the coming year at Real Madrid.

Amid the presence of three senior figures in Casemiro, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos and the return of Martin Odegaard, also from Arsenal, Ceballos will have an uphill battle to impress Ancelotti. He will not be helped by the fact that he will return late following his Olympic call-up for Spain.

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#4 Mariano Diaz

Mariano Diaz struggled for game time under Zinedine Zidane.

Real Madrid academy graduate Mariano Diaz has not lived up to expectations since his return to the club in 2018.

The 27-year-old forward returned to the club after a year-long spell with Lyon, during which he scored 21 goals in 48 games. But since his return, Diaz has found game time difficult to come by and has failed to make the most of whatever few opportunities he has had during the past three seasons.

With Luka Jovic back from his loan spell and Carlo Ancelotti looking to sign a new striker to provide cover for Karim Benzema, Mariano is living on borrowed time at Real Madrid.

Many of Real Madrid's first team players are still on holiday because of their international commitments. Hence, Diaz will have plenty of opportunities in the pre-season to impress Ancelotti and prove that he could play a key role for the first team next season.

#3 Martin Odegaard

Martin Odegaard returned to Real Madrid after his loan spell at Arsenal.

Martin Odegaard became the youngest player to make his debut for Real Madrid at 16 years and 157 days when he appeared in the last match of the 2014-15 La Liga season against Getafe.

He subsequently had loan spells at various clubs in Europe before Zinedine Zidane persuaded Real Madrid to call him back from his loan spell at Real Sociedad in the summer of 2020.

The Norwegian midfielder did not get many opportunities under Zidane in the first half of the season. So he wanted to go out on another loan. His wish was granted, and Odegaard was loaned to Arsenal in the January transfer window.

Odegaard was a key part of Mikel Arteta's side, who performed much better in the second half of the season, reaching the UEFA Europa League semi-final in the process. Arsenal wanted to make Odegaard's loan deal permanent. But Real Madrid decided against it. So the young Norwegian is set to return to the Spanish capital for the upcoming season.

With a change at the Real Madrid helm, Odegaard will hope he gets more opportunities this season. Given Ancelotti's playing style, Odegaard could play a similar role to the one James Rodriguez played for Real Madrid under the Italian tactician during the 2014-15 season.

All eyes will now be on the 22-year-old to deliver the goods. He is a great passer of the ball, a good set-piece taker and displays brilliant attacking sense. There will be plenty of opportunities for him in pre-season, so only time will tell whether he can succeed in the Spanish capital or not.

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#2 Luka Jovic

Luka Jovic also returned to Real Madrid after finishing his short loan spell at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Luka Jovic joined Real Madrid from Eintracht Frankfurt for a massive sum of €65 million in 2019. But the Serbian international has not been able to live up to his lofty price tag, scoring just two goals in 32 outings for the club. So he was loaned back to his former club in January.

After having a mixed spell in his short time in Germany, the striker returned to Real Madrid and will probably be given a final opportunity under Ancelotti before possibly being transferred if he fails to perform.

One of the major drawbacks with Jovic is that Real Madrid signed him on the back of just one good season. So it is far from a full-proof signing by the club. Another problem is that there is little interest shown in him by other teams in Europe due to his extremely high wage.

So it will be interesting to see whether Jovic can take full advantage of the pre-season to impress the Real Madrid manager, as this may be the final chance he gets.

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#1 Isco

Isco was a regular starter under Carlo Ancelotti in the latter's previous tenure at Real Madrid.

Isco was one of the first names on the team sheet under Carlo Ancelotti during the latter's previous tenure with Real Madrid. The Spanish playmaker featured heavily for the former Everton manager, playing more than a hundred matches in two seasons, scoring 17 goals and providing 22 assists.

Since Ancelotti's departure, though, the talented midfielder has struggled for regular game time under Zinedine Zidane, starting just eight of his 25 outings last season.

There were plenty of rumours regarding Isco's future, but the return of Ancelotti seems to have breathed new life into the Spaniard. In Los Blancos' latest pre-season training session, Isco scored several goals, and Ancelotti appeared to be impressed with his performance.

Carlo Ancelotti has even suggested that Isco could be given a fresh start at the club as the new Real Madrid manager looks to analyse his squad in pre-season.

Isco will hope that he can continue to impress the manager who brought him to Real Madrid in the first place and in the proc regain his starting berth in the team this season.