Real Madrid have officially announced their four captains for the coming season. After Karim Benzema‘s departure forced a reshuffle in the hierarchy, the primary captain is now Nacho.
The 33-year-old centre-back has spent his entire career at Real Madrid, coming through the club’s academy before making his senior debut in 2011. He will now take on a role he has seen performed by Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Benzema.
Nacho‘s decision to stay at the Bernabeu and accept the captaincy opens the door to the possibility that he could retire a Real Madrid player and become Los Blancos’ first one club man since Manolo Sanchis, who retired in 2001.
Who are all the Real Madrid captains for 2023/24?
After Nacho in the captaincy rankings comes Luka Modric. The Croatian has shown his commitment to the club by ignoring the lucrative offers coming his way from Saudi Arabia and he can expect to start many games with the armband on.
The third captain is another homegrown player on the list, as it is Dani Carvajal. The defender is only ineligible – and debatably at that – for ‘one club man’ status due to his loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen.
Real Madrid‘s fourth captain for 2023/24 has a stronger link with Germany: Toni Kroos. These days the armband is really a formality and Kroos is one of those players who is a leader anyway and his voice already carries great authority with his teammates.
After Gento’s record
All four captains begin the season on the hunt for their sixth Champions League trophy, something that only Paco Gento has achieved, for Real Madrid or indeed any team.
Curiously, this is also the third season in a row that Real Madrid‘s first captain has left the club. In 2021 Sergio Ramos headed for Paris and last summer Marcelo joined Olympiakos.
Now, Benzema has decided to accept a mega offer in Saudi Arabia and the armband is passed on once again, this time to a lifelong Madridista, Nacho Fernandez.