Carlo Ancelotti has finally confirmed that Real Madrid defender David Alaba, who has been missing for ages, is nearing his injury return.
Real Madrid have not had the best start to the season by their own standards. While they are still within a chance of repeating their incredible double from last season, they haven't been playing like champions.
Admittedly, their failing attack has not helped them one bit. The expectation was that with Kylian Mbappe arriving, Real Madrid would only be elevated to new levels. Unfortunately, it has not been the case.
While Real Madrid's defence has played well this season, it has not been at its full strength for a lot of the season. Injuries have not helped in this department.
According to Fabrizio Romano on X (formerly Twitter), Carlo Ancelotti has brought some brilliant injury news. He finally feels like David Alaba is close to his full return from injury.
In his own words, Ancelotti said: "David Alaba is finally close to returning! We are excited, we wait for him".
This indicates that Carlo Ancelotti is prepared to wait a little bit longer for Alaba. As fans, it is very easy for us to be overly excited and want to rush him back into the starting lineup. This will not be the case with Ancelotti, who is always prudent with such matters.
The expectation was that Alaba would arrive back from his injury halfway into the season. We are almost at that stage, so Ancelotti is excited to be nearing the point. However, he will not rush Alaba back into the starting lineup if he's not ready.
It also remains to be seen how Alaba's return from injury will alter Real Madrid's transfer plan for the January window, if at all. It certainly looked like Real Madrid had to invest in a new player or two for the backline, given their depleted options.
At least the centre-back pairing is close to full strength again. Now, the only concern for Real Madrid should be the right-back slot, which they plan to address anyway.