Fede Valverde sat back with a smile while speaking this week on Spanish radio show El Larguero.
“I tell them to take a rest, at least once in a while,” Valverde said. “I’d like to play a little bit more, but they keep playing more games and playing better.”
The Uruguayan has been seen for some seasons now as a long-term fixture in Real Madrid’s midfield, and become a firm favourite of coaches, team-mates and fans at the Bernabeu.
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The only issue is the “them” he was referring to — Madrid’s “magic midfield triangle” of Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, who won three consecutive Champions League titles from 2016 to 2018, and remain the team’s primary engine today.
Not that Valverde has just been sitting and watching — at just 23, he has played 134 senior games for Madrid, has 37 senior caps for Uruguay, and has won five trophies including a La Liga title and a Club World Cup.
But the ambitious and determined character still wants more, and feels that his time has come — with Sunday’s La Liga Clasico in the Spanish capital an ideal opportunity for him to show the world again what he is capable of.
Born in Montevideo in July 1998, Valverde joined the city’s biggest club Penarol’s youth system at age eight, and was quickly identified as a future star. At 16, he had a trial at Arsenal. Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Chelsea and Barcelona were also aware of his progress.
Real Madrid moved first, after Valverde scored seven goals in nine games at the 2015 South American Under-17 Championship, agreeing a €5 million move for the following summer.
This fit with a Madrid policy of identifying emerging teenage South American talent, also including Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes, led by the club’s current international recruitment chief Juni Calafat.
There were some initial reservations around Madrid about Valverde’s physical capabilities, with a leaked medical report claiming he was “almost malnourished, his body won’t be able to cope”.
That was a mistaken impression resulting from his particular physical shape. In Uruguay, he had already picked up the nickname of El Pajarito (little bird or fledgling), due to his long, skinny limbs, and also his shy, serious nature. But both the body and mind were firmly set on making it at the Bernabeu.
Valverde’s first season in Spain saw him bedding in with Madrid’s Castilla youth team, alongside Martin Odegaard and Achraf Hakimi. The next summer, he won the Silver Ball as the second-best player at the Under-20 World Cup as he led Uruguay to the semi-finals. The progress continued with the 2017-18 season on loan at Deportivo La Coruna in La Liga, playing regularly even as the team were relegated.
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After returning to Madrid’s senior squad in the summer of 2018, he started to get regular game time during Santi Solari’s short spell as first-team coach, and especially when Zinedine Zidane returned to the job the following March. Madrid’s fans took to the committed and athletic youngster who, along with Vinicius, was bringing some much-needed energy and excitement through some difficult moments.
“Fede’s physical qualities have helped him be that player who goes box to box,” says a source who knows him. “His capacity to carry the ball up the pitch, to break through the lines really stands out. The Bernabeu loves people with that energy, the freshness, the way he plays football, gives everything for the team.”
Valverde was growing in confidence and stature by the week, with two goals and four assists through the autumn of 2019. He was then named player of the tournament as Madrid won the Spanish Supercopa in the January, with his standout moment a crunching professional foul when Atletico Madrid’s Alvaro Morata was clear on goal at 0-0 with five minutes left in extra time of the final.
“You shouldn’t really do that to a fellow pro, but it was the only option,” Valverde said afterwards. He was sent off, but the game ended goalless and Real won the penalty shootout.
The quiet kid’s winning mentality was even recognised by Atletico coach Diego Simeone, who gave his fellow South American a friendly cuff around the ear on the pitch at full-time.
Valverde had now made himself a key member of Zidane’s preferred XI, and he excelled again in a 2-0 La Liga Clasico victory over Barcelona that March.
But the growing COVID-19 pandemic was about to stall the little bird’s take-off.
When play resumed after the three-month lockdown, Valverde featured in every game as Madrid sealed the La Liga title.
Zidane was clearly working on a succession plan in midfield, and he was picked ahead of Modric for 2020-21’s first Clasico at the Nou Camp in the October, scoring the opening goal after just four minutes.
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Modric also scored in that Clasico, coming off the bench to seal a 3-1 win late on. The veteran just refused to accept any idea his career might be winding down, and kept his level at a quite amazing level even past his 35th birthday. Meanwhile, Kroos and Casemiro were also untouchable in their positions.
The trio’s qualities all complemented each other, and Valverde was not an exact replacement for any of them.
Zidane tried to resolve the issue by moving to a 4-4-2 shape, or playing Valverde as a “false right winger” in a 4-3-3.
Injuries through last season, to his shin and adductor muscle, and two COVID-19 positives did not help him get the regular run of games that he needed to keep progressing. When he did play, he was not able to impose himself on games as he had before.
“It has been a process of adaptation,” says the source. “The last 18 months have been difficult. His progression has taken longer, there is a bit of frustration, pent-up energy.”
The flipside of the situation is that training and playing with such world-class players has to be seen as a positive for his long-term development, something Valverde himself referred to during that Spanish radio interview this week.
“I try to learn from Case, Toni and Luka and take the best lessons from each one,” he said. “From Modric: The motivation to win games, every game. From Kroos: How calm and relaxed he always is. From Casemiro: The aggression and passion that we South Americans have. But of course, I try to bring my own contribution, give my best, and I know that by working hard I can make sure they keep improving and playing at a high level too.”
With Uruguay, everything has been smoother.
He made his senior international debut in 2017 at age 19 and has started pretty much every game since, when fit.
Valverde is one of the leaders of a new generation of players also including Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo and Rodrigo Bentancur of Tottenham. “You see a different Fede with the Uruguay national team, he is one of the senior players there, with a leadership role,” says a source.
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While still fiercely proud to be Uruguayan, after six years in the Spanish capital, Valverde also feels himself now a “madrileno”. He and partner Mina Bonino, an Argentinian journalist and influencer, are settled in the city and have a two-year-old son, Benicio.
Bonino is the more outgoing half of the couple, recently organising a night out with other partners of Madrid players which was documented on social media. Valverde prefers to spend more time at home, watching sport on TV – not only football but tennis, motorsports and UFC.
He is also involved with the Red Cross in the city, donating sports gear and giving talks to groups of kids from humble backgrounds.
Off the pitch, he is a shy and reserved person, portraying a maturity that can make him seem older than his age.
When Ancelotti returned to the Bernabeu dugout for a second spell last summer, he planned to modernise and energise the team, get them to press high and play on the front foot. So Valverde was picked in each of the Italian’s first 10 starting XIs.
But results and performances were inconsistent, the team kept changing shape, players coming in and out. Valverde was also asked again to play many different positions, including right-back against Villarreal, when he was given a tough evening by a flying Arnaut Danjuma.
Then, he suffered a knee injury in a challenge with Barcelona’s Gerard Pique during October’s La Liga Clasico. That game also confirmed for Ancelotti that Madrid needed to play 4-3-3 — the shape that best suited that magic triangle of Casemiro, Kroos and Modric. The idea was now to sit deeper, not ask those veterans to run as much, and let front men Vinicius and Karim Benzema do their thing on the counter-attack.
After his return to fitness in late November, Valverde started just two of the next 10 games. There have even been moments when last year’s summer signing Eduardo Camavinga, has been Ancelotti’s first midfield reserve. The case was different from others who have fallen out of favour over the season, such as Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale and Isco. The coach is happy with how Valverde is training, and would like to use him. But even a man of his vast experience could not work out exactly how.
“Fede always has his place in this team,” the Italian said in January. “It’s true that, lately, he has not been starting games. It is pretty normal. Casemiro, Kroos and Modric have had more time. I don’t expect anything more of Fede. He is doing well.”
“Valverde has had a difficult season, on a personal level, and not been at 100 per cent,” said a source within the club. “When he gets back to his best he is a really valuable player for the team.”
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Coming in and out of the team, and being asked to play many different roles, has not been easy. Valverde has often been asked to adapt to the team’s needs, rather than play the role that suits him best individually. This has led to a sense that he still needs to add more to his game, especially when it comes to passing and decision-making, if he really is to be a long-term fixture in a top-level Madrid XI.
“Whatever position Valverde is asked to play, he does it very well,” says a source close to one team-mate. “Maybe he does not yet seem a leader of the team, or dominate or control games. But he is a real team player, he knows his role very well.”
Valverde himself considers his best position to be a “box-to-box” on the right side of Madrid’s midfield three. He knows he cannot do exactly what Modric does, or Kroos, or Casemiro. But he also brings some elements that they cannot, and not just because he can run more than them.
Tactically, he allows the team to play in different ways, and his ability to influence big games was again shown in January’s Supercopa semi-final victory over Barcelona. He replaced Modric in the 83rd minute, helped wrestle away control of the game, and scored the winner in extra time.
Still, a few weeks later, Valverde was back watching from the bench as Paris Saint-Germain made that classic midfield three look tired during their Champions League last-16 first leg in the French capital. He came on for the last eight minutes, and almost got close enough to block Kylian Mbappe’s late winner, but it was a disappointing night all round.
Casemiro’s yellow card in that game opened up a spot in the XI for the second leg. Ancelotti also rethought his tactical approach again. Madrid, starting the night 1-0 down, had to be more proactive, to physically impose themselves on PSG. The Uruguayan himself also saw an opportunity to turn his own personal situation around. And he was outstanding, especially in the second half when Madrid ran their opponents ragged (although Modric was quite good, too!).
“Fede was incredibly motivated for the PSG (return) game,” says the source who knows him. “His performance was a fist on the table, a demonstration that I am capable of playing these type of games. His ambition is maximum.”
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Valverde remained in the XI for last weekend’s La Liga trip to Mallorca, with Modric rested.
At 0-0, he pressed right up and dispossessed rival holding midfielder Iddrisu Baba, leading directly to Vinicius’ opening goal which set Madrid on the way to a 3-0 win that put them 10 points clear at the top of the table. Valverde covered every blade of grass as usual but the team lacked the midfield control that the absent Modric generally brings.
So Ancelotti has a dilemma as he considers his XI for the Clasico tomorrow (Sunday) against a Barcelona team who look resurgent since Xavi Hernandez returned as coach last November.
It would be a big call to break up the magic triangle but it would also be difficult to leave Valverde out. Especially given Barcelona’s strength in midfield, with their own young prodigies Pedri and Gavi, and how Xavi has added more energy and athleticism to the team recently.
Madrid have an excellent record in recent meetings with their biggest rivals, winning the last five, and not losing to the Catalans for three years. Valverde has also won three and drawn one of the four Clasicos he has started in his career. His two goals in the fixture should also count in his favour.
Whatever happens in that game tomorrow night, Valverde and those around him remain sure that he has a big future at the Bernabeu, and him leaving has never crossed their minds.
Maybe he has not progressed as much as expected over the last two years, but the long-term plan remains in place.
The little bird is now ready to soar.
(Top photo: Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images)
