Real Madrid have been linked to center backs since the January 2024 transfer window after veteran David Alaba went down with a torn ACL just months after their top option, Eder Militao, suffered the same injury.
Militao returned in the thick of the Champions League knockouts, and Real Madrid won the UCL for the second time in three seasons under Carlo Ancelotti with Militao and Antonio Rudiger forming a wall in front of either Andriy Lunin or Thibaut Courtois (recovered from a torn ACL in time to face Dortmund in the Final).
This season, Real Madrid are still waiting for Alaba to return to the pitch, while they lost club icon Nacho Fernandez to the Saudi Pro League in the summer. After top prospect Joan Martinez tore his ACL, too, that has left Real Madrid with only Rudiger and Militao as senior options at center back.
Real Madrid have strong emergency personnel in central defense in Ferland Mendy and Aurelien Tchouameni, but the French stars have had their own injuries issues. Meanwhile, star right back Dani Carvajal just did his ACL, leaving Real precariously thin at the back.
Now, according to Matteo Moretto, Real Madrid have decided to go after a new center back in either the winter or summer transfer windows in 2025, marking a departure from their previous strategy at the position.
That strategy was to basically do nothing. Real Madrid had intriguing options in the January 2024 market but decided against all of them, whether veterans like Aymeric Laporte or young gems like Antonio Silva.
In the summer, Real Madrid were linked to Juni Calafat favorite Leny Yoro, but they didn’t seriously pursue the Lille breakout star, instead hoping that he’d join them for free in 2025. Yoro would end up signing with Manchester United for 60 million euros.
Real Madrid could go back for young stars like Goncalo Inacio, Giorgio Scalvini, Silva, or any one of the new breakout players in Ligue 1 like Nathan Zeze of Nantes.
