Brahim Diaz Suffers Fresh Injury Just One Week Into New Season

Real Madrid have confirmed that Brahim Diaz has suffered a muscular abdominal problem after the player underwent medical tests to ascertain the extent of a fresh injury. His recovery will now be monitored as he looks to get back into consideration as quickly as possible.

Brahim had the misfortune of picking up a thigh injury during pre-season and was nearing his return to action after returning to training last week, until this latest setback hit the 20-year-old.

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The Spain Under-21 international joined Real from Manchester City midway through last season in a deal believed to be worth up to €24m after add-ons.

He has so far struggled to establish himself in the Spanish capital, featuring in just nine of 21 possible La Liga games in his debut half-season. The player did appear in all of Real’s last six league games of a poor season, starting four of them, but results were poor.

With the club undergoing significant changes this summer, Brahim’s pre-season injury came at the worst possible time, especially with Marco Asensio’s absence lessening competition for places. This abdominal issue has only made it worse when he was ready to return.

Real kicked off the new La Liga season with a 3-1 away win over Celta Vigo on Saturday. Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Lucas Vazquez all scored for Los Blancos, but 2018 Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric was shown a red card early in the second half.

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Summer signing Eden Hazard was missing from the game after suffering a hamstring problem, while fellow new arrival Luka Jovic only appeared as a late substitute. Gareth Bale was a starter, despite his relationship with Zinedine Zidane seeming to completely break down this summer.

James Rodriguez wore number 16 on the bench but remained an unused substitute after returning from a two-year loan at Bayern Munich and Real so far failing to offload him.