The Athletic's resident renowned Spanish Real Madrid team correspondent Mario Cortegana, exclusively reported on Tuesday that the club's legendary Spanish international right-back Dani Carvajal is "frustrated" by being benched without explanation and might leave the club this summer.

According to the report, Carvajal is baffled by his former teammate and interim manager, Álvaro Arbeloa, who has inexplicably kept him on the bench since his return from injury, and is perplexed by Arbeloa's refusal to provide him with a reason for not getting playing time.

Carvajal initially believes he had no objection to his new teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold, who also recently recovered from injury, having opportunities to come on as a substitute, but he has been completely ignored without any explanation, which has made him very "frustrated."

Cortega said that until Real Madrid's 2-0 La Liga victory over Valencia, Carvajal maintained his belief that despite his dissatisfaction with the situation, he would train hard to change Arbeloa's mind. 

However, with Arbeloa's decision to bring on Alexander-Arnold to replace 21-year-old La Fabrica academy graduate David Jimenez in the 76th minute, Carvajal finally realized his days playing at Real Madrid might be coming to an end.

Carvajal had been relegated to the bench since returning from injury in early January, even missing four consecutive matches entirely.

Carvajal added that unlike the departures of Toni Kroos, Nacho, Lucas Vázquez, and Karim Benzema, like Luca Modrić, Real Madrid did not inform Carvajal beforehand that he could consider renewing his contract or not before making the decision to leave.

Real Madrid's management also seemed to have no intention of renewing his contract, thus no negotiations had taken place to date.

With all this happening now, Carvajal's belief that he might leave when his contract expires this summer may have become even stronger.

Once his departure is confirmed, this legendary Spanish right-back's 23-year tenure with Los Blancos will come to an end.

It's worth mentioning that Real Madrid's disciplinary problems had only recently improved following Xabi Alonso's sacking, and this new saga involving Carvajal will undoubtedly cause the club considerable headaches.

About Dani Carvajal

The 34-year-old Dani Carvajal was born on January 11, 1992, in Leganés, Spain. He is 1.73 meters tall and primarily plays as a right-back, but can also play as a center-back.

Carvajal joined Real Madrid's renowned La Fabrica youth academy at the age of 10 and began playing for Real Madrid B in 2010, during which time he helped the team win one Segunda División B title.

In July 2012, Carvajal joined Bayer Leverkusen for €5 million.

During his time at Die Werkself, Carvajal's outstanding performances earned him second place in the Bundesliga's annual Best Right-Back poll.

The following July, Carvajal returned to Real Madrid for €6.5 million.

Since returning to Real Madrid, Carvajal has made 438 appearances for Los Blancos in all competitions so far, scoring 14 goals and providing 65 assists. During which he has won 6 Champions League titles, 5 UEFA Super Cups, 5 FIFA Club World Cups, 4 La Liga titles, 4 Supercopa de España, and 2 Copa del Rey titles with the club.

Image source: Internet / The Athletic