There was an understandable melancholy around Valdebebas late last week as news emerged that 16-year-old starlet Joan Martinez, recently returned from the US preseason tour with the first team, had torn his anterior cruciate ligament.
The teenager is set to undergo surgery shortly and will likely miss a minimum of six to seven months, just as he was making strides forward in his career. According to Marca, it’s an injury that has hit the Real Madrid squad hard. Thibaut Courtois, who suffered the same injury on the same day last year was the first to notice something was wrong, and raised the alarm after a challenge in training.
"We'll play together."
Kylian Mbappe to 16-year-old Joan Martinez, after the centre-back tore his ACL in #RealMadrid training. (Marca) pic.twitter.com/DIBKv9Krss
— Football España (@footballespana_) August 12, 2024
After it became clear that his injury was serious, star forward Kylian Mbappe told Martinez that they would play together on the pitch. Defender Antonio Rudiger even went a step further, and offered that he stay at his house that evening, to save him heading back to the dormitory he lives in on the Real Madrid campus. All the same, he declined with his family to traveling to be with him at the residence. Martinez is also set for an improved contract from the club, as they had been discusing before his injury.
One of the things that manager Carlo Ancelotti has highlighted time again as behind this side’s success is the team spirit and dressing room. Clearly it’s something that Mbappe has taken to heart early doors.
