Real Madrid veteran back after World Cup break; Mbappe, Bellingham & co. to return on Monday | OneFootball

Real Madrid continue to welcome back their World Cup players, with Thibaut Courtois becoming the latest member of Jose Mourinho’s squad to return after his summer break.

The Belgian goalkeeper, who picked up a minor muscle issue during the World Cup against Spain, is now back at the club and working towards full fitness ahead of the new season, reports Melchor Ruiz of COPE.

Individual training at Valdebebas

Although Real Madrid have travelled to Hungary for their second pre-season friendly, Courtois remained in Madrid to continue his recovery.

Like Yan Diomande did on his first day at the club, the goalkeeper trained individually at Valdebebas, working under the Madrid heat while waiting for the rest of the squad to return.

Back in training. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

The plan is for Courtois to continue building his fitness before rejoining full team training ahead of Real Madrid’s next pre-season fixture against Deportivo La Coruna.

More World Cup stars to return

Mourinho’s squad is also set to receive another wave of returning internationals over the coming days.

Marc Cucurella, Ibrahima Konate, Aurelien Tchouameni, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham are the final World Cup participants still due back.

And, as per the report, unless nothing changes, their arrivals expected to take place on Monday, as Real Madrid continue preparations ahead of the start of the new league season.

Returning next week. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

The five players made it to the final four at the World Cup, with Cucurella winning the trophy with Spain, while Bellingham’s England finished third after beating Mbappe’s France.

Once they return, Mourinho will finally have the entire Real Madrid squad at his disposal as he hopes to get the team ready to hit the ground running from their opening La Liga game against Espanyol.

Considering that they will return only on Monday, it might be unlikely that Bellingham, Mbappe, Cucurella, Tchouameni, and Konate take part in the friendly against Deportivo La Coruna.

They could, however, make their maiden appearance under Mourinho in the subsequent fixture against Schalke in Germany, which will the team’s final pre-season match of the summer before the new season gets underway.