17-year-old rising star to be given opportunities by Real Madrid amid ongoing injury crisis

Real Madrid’s rotten luck with injuries continued on Saturday, and in devastating fashion. Eder Militao ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament against Osasuna, doing so for the second time in 15 months. And on top of this, Rodrygo Goes and Lucas Vazquez also suffered injuries that will keep them out for several weeks.

The injuries to Lucas and Militao are especially bad news when taking into account that they were Carlo Ancelotti’s two right-back options for the remainder of the season, given that Dani Carvajal is also out long-term with a serious knee injury. Federico Valverde filled in during the second half against Osasuna, but he won’t play there going forward.

Diario AS say that Jesus Fortea is in pole position to play in Lucas’ absence. Despite only being 17 years of age, Real Madrid officials have a lot of faith in Fortea, who was recently promoted to the first team after the injury to Carvajal.

Real Madrid take on Leganes in their first match after the international break, and Fortea is a prime candidate to start – it would be his first team debut. Three days later, he could also be thrown into the lion’s den when Los Blancos travel to face Liverpool in the Champions League.