Real Madrid defender considering retirement after injury diagnosis | OneFootball

Real Madrid defender Ferland Mendy is reportedly considering retirement from the game after his hamstring injury was diagnosed to be much more serious than first feared. The France international has battled fitness problems for some time.

The 30-year-old pulled up after just 10 minutes in Real Madrid’s 2-0 win over Espanyol on Sunday night, and was replaced by Fran Garcia immediately. It was feared to be a hamstring tear, and the initial diagnosis pointed towards an absence of four to five months, and surgery for Mendy.

Mendy hamstring injury worse than first feared

However the injury is far worse than initially feared. Cadena Cope say that one of Mendy’s tendons has completely detached from the bone, and the damage is considerable. It will require far more serious surgery, and the likely time out is at least a year, which would in all likelihood rule him out of action until the 2027-28 season. That is the final year of his current Real Madrid contract, which runs until 2028.

Mendy now considering retirement from football

There are no guarantees that the surgery will be successful enough for Mendy to return to the top level though, and Ramon Alvarez de Mon reports that the veteran defender is now considering retirement from the game far earlier than he might have expected. During Real Madrid’s Champions League home game against Bayern Munich, Mendy proved that when fit he can still compete at the top level, but that has become an increasingly large ‘if’ over recent years.

Mendy’s minutes over the last two seasons

Mendy has managed just 448 minutes this season, and was limited to only nine appearances for Real Madrid. In the previous year he was also laid low by injuries, but far less than this year, when he made 31 appearances, and played over four times the number of minutes he has this season. Mendy has had five separate injuries this season too, which will no doubt have been difficult to handle mentally.