Real Madrid: Valverde issues 425-word statement after ‘traumatic brain injury’ in training ground ‘fight’ | OneFootball

Real Madrid star Federico Valverde has declared his ‘anger’ in an extraordinary statement after he suffered a ‘traumatic brain injury’ and was hospitalised following a training ground fight with Aurelian Tchouameni.

Alvaro Arbeloa’s side are eleven points adrift of La Liga leaders Barcelona ahead of Sunday’s El Clasico, and a report from The Athletic on Wednesday revealed ‘tensions have risen’ at Real Madrid ahead of this match.

According to the report, there have been multiple ‘flashpoints’ ahead of the Barcelona match, with ex-Chelsea centre-back Antonio Rudiger involved in a ‘heated argument with another first-team player in the dressing rooms at Real Madrid’s training ground in April’ and this was ‘instigated’ by the veteran defender.

Kylian Mbappe is said to have clashed with one of Real Madrid’s coaches. The report claims: ‘Following that, there was another dispute — this time between Mbappe and a member of Real Madrid’s coaching staff — before the trip to play Real Betis on April 24.

‘Mbappe was involved in a flare-up with a coach during a training exercise. Sources said the Frenchman spoke angrily and in insulting terms towards the member of staff, who was acting as an assistant referee on the sidelines of the match and had called him offside.’

Marca then revealed on Thursday that a training ground ‘fight’ between Tchouameni and Valverde ended with the latter in hospital as several players told the Spanish outlet that the incident was ‘the most serious ever experienced in Valdebebas’.

Real Madrid later confirmed Valverde suffered a ‘traumatic brain injury’ in a statement to the press.

‘Following tests carried out today on our player Fede Valverde by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury,’ the statement read.

‘Valverde is at home in good condition and will have to remain at rest for 10 to 14 days, as indicated by the medical protocols for this diagnosis.’

Valverde then took to Instagram later on Thursday to detail what happened, his ‘anger’ at the situation and that Tchouameni did not ‘hit me’.

He said in his social media statement:

‘Yesterday I had an incident with a teammate as a result of a play during training, where the fatigue from competition and frustration make everything bigger than it is.

‘In a normal locker room, these things can happen and are resolved among ourselves without becoming public. Obviously here there is someone behind all this who rushed to tell the story, added to a season without titles where Madrid is always the center of attention and everything gets magnified.

‘Today we had another disagreement. During the argument I accidentally hit a table, causing myself a small cut on my forehead that required a routine visit to the hospital.

‘At no point has my teammate hit me, nor have I hit him, although I understand that for you it may have been easier to believe that we beat each other up or that it was intentional, but that did not happen. I feel that my anger about the situation, my frustration at seeing that some of us are reaching the end of the season running on our last bit of energy, breaking ourselves mentally, led me to the point of arguing with a teammate.

‘I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry because the situation hurts me, the moment we are going through hurts me. Madrid is one of the most important things in my life and I can’t stay indifferent. The result is an accumulation of things that end up in a meaningless argument, damaging my image and leaving room for people to invent, slander, and exaggerate an accident, which I have no doubt about. Any clashes we may have on the pitch stop existing once we step off it, and if I have to defend him inside a stadium, I’ll be the first to do so.

‘I wasn’t going to speak until the end of the season. We were eliminated from the Champions League and I kept my anger and resentment to myself. We wasted another year and I didn’t feel like making posts on social media when the only face I had to show was on the pitch, and I feel that’s what I did. That’s why it pains and saddens me the most to go through this situation, which prevents me from playing the next match due to medical decisions, because I have always gone until the end, to the very last consequences, and it hurts me more than anyone not to be able to do so. I am at the club’s and my teammates’ disposal to cooperate with any decision they consider necessary.

‘Thank you’

In a later statement Real Madrid confirmed that they have ‘decided to open disciplinary proceedings against our players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouameni’.