Which centre-back does Real Madrid need: Ancelotti’s search in the winter market | Sports New Spain

He Real Madrid had several headaches in 2023-2024. Although they are leaders in the league and qualified without problems in the round of 16 of the Champions League, The infirmary White Is full. There are so many players with illnesses (and some with long recoveries), that the alarms have been going off for a while now.

The list starts with Thibaut Courtois, followed by Ender Militao, David Alaba, Eduardo Caravinga, Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior. two are central. The ones currently available are Nacho and Antonio Rudigerbut for example, against Deportivo Alaves, the potatoes were burnt: the Spaniard was sent off and Aurelién Tchouaméni (who until a few days ago was injured), came back and had to play in this position, being a natural midfielder.

“He will be angry, but he is a spectacular centre-back. He is lucky to have two opportunities to play at Real Madrid: pivot and centre-back.”said Carlo Ancelotti about the Frenchman after the match that ended with a narrow victory for the Whites in extra time.

However, These kinds of “luxuries” cannot continue to be given in Madrid in January. The competition continues and the restart of the Champions League (February) will be added to the Copa del Rey. The densest part of the campaign is precisely the first quarter in which neither Militao nor Alaba will be there (link split). Hence, the need to explore the market is imperative.

“We have spoken to the club, we will evaluate it in the next few days. We have time to do it because The market ends on the 31st and we will look for the best possible solution. At the moment we are in no rush” commented the Italian in relation to a possible candidate to bring.

Many names are on the agenda, but nothing concrete. However, there is a list of “possible” boosts that would fill your eyes with so much Carletto like Florentino Pérez, a white president. Here are some options:

What centre-back does Real Madrid need?

It is the main question, and the immediate answer is that offers guarantees and has sufficient experience to take up the challenge of playing in such an institution. Moreover, it must be one it doesn’t cost much -which is not a problem for white beads- but this is Nor will it cause inconvenience when the wounded are already available.

In this case of acquiring a new one, it must be someone with the right visibility to establish himself in the future at the Santiago Bernabéu. But, pointing to the former, the choice that comes from number one (and who is rumored to already have Ancelotti’s OK), is an old acquaintance: Raphael Varane.

The Frenchman left the Spanish capital in 2021 after a fairly fruitful career. His destination was Manchester United, but his performance there, to date, has not been as expected.

He has played just nine Premier League games this year and between injuries and a poor relationship with manager Erik ten Hag, his exit looks certain. According to several media, the coaching staff has a positive view of the 30-year-old defender.

However, Arrival conditions are those that are not clear: When he signed (2021) he did so for four years with the option of an even €41 million. With that in front, it will be up to Madrid to either ask him on loan or finish paying off what’s left and do a buyback.

Now if we talk about central with experience and who could arrive “for free”two may appear in the list: Jerome Boateng and Leonardo Bonucci.

First (35 years old) is free agent since the contract ended 2022-2023 with Olympique Lyonnais. Although he did not live his best years there, he has a wealth of experience. Except, managed by Ancelotti during his time at Bayern, so you know him well. Under his command he was in 24 matches, giving a few assists. The problem for him was that he spent several periods away from the field due to injury. Napoli in Italy have scouted him for January as well.

Another who also has a lot of experience at club and national team level is Leonardo Bonucci (36), currently at Union of Berlin who faced Real in the recent group stage of the Champions League. In the first match he played 80 minutes and the Spaniard barely won. Moreover, he was already close to reaching it in 2017, after the Champions League final in Cardiff.

He currently has 10 matches and one goal to his name. Although he is not at his best (he spent many years at Juventus), he offers elite guarantees, even though he is already 36 years old. His signature with Berlin is until June with the option of another, but if the Merengue board knows how to move in numbers (and they do), they could bring him in cheaply until the close of 23-24.