Valdebebas is currently a battlefield. A guerrilla war that had yesterday's events, involving Aurelien Tchouaméni and Fede Valverde, as its most significant confrontation. One that could cause an earthquake at all levels within the white team, which is now deciding how to deal with the distrust that the latest leaks have created. "Right now, nobody trusts anybody," sources from the white team's dressing room told this newspaper.
The clash between the Uruguayan and the Frenchman, which ended with the former in the hospital after hitting his head on a table during the scuffle, has been the last straw for the club's management. Real Madrid has opened disciplinary proceedings against both players, although the Uruguayan will be out for two weeks due to a "cranioencephalic trauma," but he is "deeply upset" with the shift in the group's attitude over the past few months and the growing feeling that everything is leaking out of Valdebebas, once considered an information fortress. "There is a clear intention to cause harm," the club states. "In a normal dressing room, these things can happen and be resolved internally. Obviously, here someone is quickly spreading the story," Valverde criticized in yesterday's statement, emphasizing that Tchouaméni "did not hit me, nor did I hit him."
The scene is worth analyzing. José Ángel Sánchez, the general director of Madrid, entering the first team's dressing room for an urgent meeting with the squad. Inside, Valverde, with blood on his head on his way to another room for treatment before going to the medical center, Tchouaméni explaining himself after the events, and the rest of the squad, most with their heads down. "It's a very immature group, they are like children," insist the sources consulted.
"Disappointment" with the Squad and with Arbeloa
In the background, Arbeloa, who barely intervened in Wednesday's argument, the starting point of it all, and neither did he in Thursday's. He let his players resolve the issue, but they couldn't stop, and the coach ended up assisting the Uruguayan in the medical room at the sports city. In Madrid's offices, there is talk of "disappointment" with the squad and the coach for the events, which are more about the relationships between the players than the results, although everything influences each other.
For too long now, Madrid has been more in the news for the lack of cohesion in the dressing room than for victories. It started with Vinicius's anger towards Alonso during the Clásico, and privately, Bellingham's support for the Brazilian and his distancing from the Basque. It continued with Mbappé's injury and the misdiagnosis, the medical department crisis, Carvajal's frustration with Arbeloa, the coach's decision to sideline Asensio for a few days, the non-existent relationship between the coach and Ceballos, the Spanish core's discontent, Rüdiger's slap to Carreras, the growing issues between stars, the group's annoyance over Mbappé's trip with his partner, and now this confrontation between Tchouaméni and Valverde, also a result of the division in the dressing room.
Since Alonso's departure and Arbeloa's arrival, Madrid's dressing room has been splitting, creating an atmosphere that some sources describe as "toxic." There is a group that supported the Basque more and another that preferred a new coach. The bench changed, and many disagreed, leading to internal disputes that, along with the defeats, have brought Madrid to a series of clashes between players, with the coaching staff also involved.
Despite the fight, the club seems to rule out the sale of Valverde or Tchouaméni, considered key in the present and short-term future of the entity, although internal measures will be taken with both, focusing more on the Uruguayan as the second captain, but not forgetting the Frenchman's involvement in this. If Carvajal ends up not renewing, the midfielder will move up to the captaincy due to seniority, but the club expects a change on his part after this week's events. This is the current situation at Valdebebas.