Dani Carvajal's contract at Real Madrid will expire in 2025.
Real Madrid still has their biggest date of the season ahead as they take on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final, but they are also looking to the future. In one case specifically, that relates to a man who could win his record sixth Champions League title on June 1st; Dani Carvajal.
Relevo claim that Real Madrid is considering offering the right-back an extension to his contract which will tie down his future to at least 2026, and possibly even longer.
The right-back’s current contract is set to expire in the summer of 2025, meaning that he will head into the 2024/25 campaign with only 12 months left on his existing deal unless he puts pen to paper to an extension before then.
This is not unusual for Los Blancos to look to extend contracts of key players, but in this case it does break the norms. The reason for that is that most of the team’s veterans over the age of 30 are left to negotiate their contracts in the final 12 months, as is the case currently with key players like Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić.
However, Carvajal could have it all tied up much earlier, and the Relevo report even claims that the club may break their policy to offer him a two-year extension to 2027 which would keep him at the club until he is 35.
Carvajal’s superb physical shape
Part of that could be due to Carvajal’s impressive fitness which has allowed him to reach the business end of the 2023/24 campaign in fine form and peak shape. The Spanish international has improved as the season has progressed, and now looks to be in optimal form to take on Dortmund in London.
Many feared that Carvajal’s career was coming to an end after he missed 53 games through injury during the course of the 2020/21 campaign, but he has since been relatively injury-free and fine-tuned his fitness to a tee. This season, he has missed only two games due to injury, down from five in 2022/23.
“I asked for help from a nutritionist, a coach and eliminated gluten from my diet completely,” he said in an interview with Universo Valdano. “I think it's all about body and mind, injuries don't happen for a single reason. When it came to the Champions League semis or finals, a high percentage of me was injured. I have been injured in two finals and two semifinals, and the psychological factor can be important, of course. In 2021 I barely played 12 games, relapse after relapse... a tunnel from which I could see no way out. I eliminated gluten from my diet completely, I am not intolerant, but it causes inflammation, since then everything has changed.”
With time and age, Carlo Ancelotti now has the chance to bring through a younger, long-term replacement, safe in the knowledge that Carvajal’s minutes will need managing. For now, and most likely for 2024/25, that involves relying on Carvajal and his deputy, Lucas Vázquez, who is expected to extend his contract which is set to expire this summer, while the club considers options for the long-term.
Expected to become the club’s captain in near future
With the imminent departure of club captain Nacho as his contact comes to an end, Dani Carvajal is in prime position to step up and become the club's official vice-captain. The captaincy, awarded according to length of time at the club, would pass on to Luka Modrić, who could also depart this summer when his contract expires unless a deal is reached before June 30th.
In any case, Carvajal would likely don the armband regularly given that Modrić has only started 23 of the team’s 53 games this season. Much like Karim Benzema, who was deputy to Marcelo in his final season, Carvajal would be the captain for many games, just as he has this season done on 12 occasions while being third in the pecking order.
With Modrić unlikely to stay for another season, even if he does eventually agree to remain at the club for 2024/25, that would see Carvajal inherit the captaincy in full. It would complete an impressive journey for the boy who was once selected to bury a time capsule at the club’s Valdebebas training ground at its opening in 2004, when he was just 12 years old.
