'My time will come at Real Madrid' - Odriozola confident he will make the grade at Santiago Bernabeu

Alvaro Odriozola has put his lack of progress at Real Madrid down to a collarbone injury he suffered last year, but he remains confident of breaking through at Santiago Bernabeu in the near future.

The Spanish full-back completed a reported €30 million (£26m/$32m) move to Madrid from Real Sociedad in the summer of 2018, putting pen to paper on a six-year contract with the La Liga giants.

He was billed as one of the brightest homegrown talents of his generation, but has only featured in 27 matches across all competitions since then, and has yet to open his goalscoring account for the club.

Madrid decided to send the 24-year-old out on loan to Bayern Munich in the January transfer window so he could get some regular minutes under his belt, after being restricted to just four domestic appearances for Zinedine Zidane's side in the first half of the season.

Unfortunately, Odriozola only featured twice for the German champions before the 2019-20 campaign was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic, and is due to return to Madrid at the end of June.

He hasn't given up on making the grade at the Bernabeu despite the setbacks he has faced over the last 12 months, including a collarbone fracture which saw him miss a large portion of pre-season.

Odriozola still feels that Zidane trusts in his ability, as he told Marca: “After the collarbone fracture I suffered in April last year I wasn’t the same player I was before because I spent three months without training, because I wasn’t even allowed to run.

"I just wasn’t in my best condition so that I could play the way I like to play. I have to be very honest and I feel Zidane’s trust, so I have no doubts that my time will come.

“I’ve had some good performances and my main problem has been my lack of consistency. Fullbacks rely a lot on their physical skills and even more so now in the modern era of football. This consistency in minutes gives you better condition and improves your confidence so you can perform at your highest level."

The Spain international went on to insist that Zidane did not want him to join Bayern, but he pushed for the temporary move after sitting down with the Frenchman to discuss how best to further his development.

“I told Zidane first because he had to be the first person to know," he said. "I talked a lot with him and thought about what was best for me at the time.

"Coach didn’t want me to leave but he understood and that’s why I have to thank him. I can only say good things about Zidane.

"I’m only thinking about Bayern until the end of this season. When it ends, I’ll have to talk with coach Zidane to know what he thinks about me but I must insist, I feel his respect and support."

When asked if Madrid's season should be seen as a failure up to now as they continue to chase down Barcelona in La Liga and face the daunting prospect of overturning a 2-1 first-leg deficit in a last-16 Champions League clash with Manchester City, Odriozola responded: “Not at all, they still have every chance to win La Liga and they still have to play the return leg at the Etihad Stadium. We know how dangerous Real Madrid are in Europe."