The Italian is insistent he has “total confidence in the player”, even though the club are close to completing a deal for another midfielder
Carlo Ancelotti insists Asier Illarramendi remains part of his plans at Real Madrid, despite the seemingly imminent arrival of Lucas Silva from Cruzeiro.
The midfielder has struggled to secure a regular starting berth at the Bernabeu, with Athletic Bilbao registering their interest in the former Real Sociedad player this week.
Madrid also appear to be close to completing a deal for Brazil Under-21 star Lucas Silva after Cruzeiro admitted terms had been agreed over a move, which would appear to spell the end for Illarra.
“Illarra is a Real Madrid player, nothing has changed,” the Madrid coach said on Friday. “He is a player of Real Madrid and though it’s true he hasn’t played much, we still have confidence in him. He’s important in the locker room.”
Ancelotti was then quizzed over Brazil Under-21 star Lucas Silva, a midfielder the Italian has already admitted to being of interest to him.
“I can’t speak about Lucas Silva because he isn’t a Real Madrid player, I have to think about the players we have,” he added.
The Champions League winners have a wealth of midfield options at their disposal, with 16-year-old Martin Odegaard completing his move to the club on Thursday and Luka Modric closing in on a return from injury.
“With his quality and intelligence, Odegaard is going to be a good player for Madrid, but it is normal he will play the rest of this season with the Castilla. I’m not sure when he will be ready to play for the first team. Next year we will decide.
He added: “We hope Modric could be ready for the Champions League.”
Ancelotti also confirmed that Illarramendi or Sami Khedira will start Saturday’s clash against Cordoba, with Isco ruled out through injury.