Carlo Ancelotti says he will remain in charge of Real Madrid next season and has never asked the club to sign another goalkeeper.
Over the past few months, the futures of Ancelotti and Iker Casillas have been the subject of speculation with the consensus being that both were on their way out of Madrid.
Earlier this week, Casillas confirmed that he plans to see out the remainder of his contract – which expires in June 2017 – effectively ending the ongoing transfer saga which had many believing Real Madrid were plotting to sign Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea as the veteran player’s replacement this summer.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Ancelotti stated his future lies with the club while revealing that he never asked for another goalkeeper to be signed because the manager is more than happy with the options at his disposal.
“I see myself here at Real Madrid next season, with Casillas and will all of the others who are doing a good job,” Ancelotti said.
“It’s not for me to list a ranking of goalkeepers; I have three very good goalkeepers who I am happy with. The best goalkeepers in the world are the ones I have in my squad. I have never spoken about signing another goalkeeper.”
Ancelotti went on to say striker Karim Benzema and left-back Fabio Coentrao will not be available for tomorrow’s match against Malaga.
“Those who are in the best shape will play tomorrow,” Ancelotti added. “It’s not a game for giving minutes to those who need to build up rhythm – it’s a game we have to win to continue our run of results. Coentrao won’t play tomorrow.
“[Benzema] is not available but we should recover him for the next game [against Atletico Madrid].
“We’ll put out the best team possible in order to beat a dangerous side who are doing well. I won’t be making changes to the team’s formation.”
Real Madrid trail league leading Barcelona by two points on the La Liga table, and fans will be hoping the Catalan club slips up during their match against fourth place Valencia tomorrow.
However, Ancelotti is focused solely on the task at hand for his side – and that is beating Malaga.
“It’s a dangerous game for us,” Ancelotti concluded. “Malaga did well against Atletico Madrid and beat Barcelona. We’ve taken that on board and we’ll need to exert the maximum energy possible to beat them.”
Programming note: Real Madrid vs. Malaga will be shown LIVE on Saturday starting at 2:00pm EST on beIN SPORTS and fuboTV.
