Federico Valverde signs new long-term Real Madrid contract

The Uruguay international has blossomed into a crucial player for Carlo Ancelotti since joining from Penarol for just €5m (£4.4m) in the summer of 2016.

Since progressing through the club's Castilla setup, Valverde has made 220 senior appearances for Los Blancos across all competitions, scoring 19 goals and setting up 18 more.

Valverde has excelled as both a central midfielder and right-winger for Ancelotti's side over the past couple of years, and he ended the 2022-23 season with 12 goals and seven assists to his name from 56 matches.

However, the 25-year-old was not a guaranteed starter in La Liga, as Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dani Ceballos and Eduardo Camavinga also battled for minutes in the middle of the park.

The arrival of Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund increased competition for places in Ancelotti's engine room, and there was talk of Valverde potentially making the move to the Premier League.

Chelsea were thought to have been weighing up an approach for the South American over the summer, and it was even claimed that Valverde regretted snubbing interest from England to stay at the Bernabeu.

However, the Uruguay international soon played down talk of an exit from Real Madrid, who subsequently began working to tie him down to a new long-term deal with a hefty release clause.

On Thursday, the Spanish giants confirmed that Valverde's terms had been renewed until the summer of 2029, by which time he will be 31 years old, and he was joined by president Florentino Perez for the announcement.

Valverde's new deal is also believed to include a release clause of €1bn (£871.9m), and his agreement comes only two days after Camavinga also penned fresh terms until the end of the 2028-29 season.

Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior, Ceballos, Modric, Kroos and Nacho Fernandez have also seen their contracts extended since the turn of the year, and Eder Militao's renewal until 2028 is expected to be confirmed soon.

With Kroos and Modric taking on peripheral roles as they enter the twilight of their careers, Valverde has been a regular starter this term, featuring from the off in 14 of his 16 appearances and coming up with one goal and three assists.

The midfielder has won nine major honours since being promoted to the senior team, including one Champions League, two La Liga titles, two Club World Cups, one UEFA Super Cup, one Copa del Rey and two Supercopa de Espana crowns.

Valverde was also named in the 2022-23 La Liga Team of the Season and won the Silver Ball as the second-best player at the 2022 Club World Cup behind teammate Vinicius Junior.

Real sit two points behind Girona in second place in the La Liga table and host Valencia on Saturday evening before the international break.