Real Madrid veteran Dani Carvajal is an outside contender for the Ballon d’Or this year, and is not likely to be usurped at right-back for a while yet, but the 32-year-old has given some thought to where he might go after Los Blancos.
Save for a single season at Bayer Leverkusen, Carvajal has spent his entire career at Real Madrid, and is second in line to the captaincy after Luka Modric. Speaking while at the Spain camp, Carvajal was asked whether Toni Kroos’ decision to hang up his boots at just two years older than him has made him ponder it.
“I have until next summer on my contract. I’m not considering retirement at the moment. I talk about it with my family: I want to enjoy every game, every training session. As the years go by, you realise you have to give more value to every moment and enjoy it,” he revealed to The Athletic.
“The relationship I have with the club is very transparent, very clear. If both parties agree to continue, I hope to stay here for many years.”
"It seems incredible at Yamal’s age that he's already in the elite, at a club like Barcelona and with the national team. He's adapted very well to the group. He's still a kid (laughs), so you have to keep your feet on the ground – but he’s a great kid."
Carvajal in The Athletic pic.twitter.com/nlNhoqgeke
— Football España (@footballespana_) September 4, 2024
However he will not come up against Los Blancos in the Champions League. Carvajal was not opposed to the idea of Major League Soccer in the United States.
“It’s a possibility. When I decide not to be at Real Madrid, I’m not going to play in Europe and the alternatives are much reduced.”
“Exactly, it would be one of those three options,” he noted, responding to the United States, Saudi Arabia or Qatar as potential destinations.
He also admitted during the interview that he had wished he had altered his diet and conditioning programme earlier in his career. Since going vegan, Carvajal has avoided the injury issues that plagued him throughout several years, and returned to be amongst the best right-backs in the world.
