Real Madrid chase €250m of talent in response to serious injury

Robin Bairner

• 18 Dec 2023 07:06 GMT
• 3 min read

David Alaba will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury, and Real Madrid are now evaluating the prospects of signing a new centre-back during the January transfer window.

It was confirmed on Sunday that Alaba has suffered a tear to his anterior cruciate ligament and faces the prospect of spending the rest of the season on the sidelines.

He is the third Real Madrid player to suffer this problem this term and second centre-back, with Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao absent for the same reason.

Los Blancos now face the prospect of going into the second half of the campaign severely understaffed in the heart of the defence, where Nacho Fernandez and Antonio Rudiger are now Carlo Ancelotti’s natural options.

The key figure at Real Madrid regarding transfer, Juni Calafat, has confirmed the club will look into the prospect of a deal in January to alleviate the position but is not certain something will be done.

He is quoted by AS as having said: “We will see in the coming days.”

Real Madrid’s four centre-back targets valued at €250m

Real Madrid, who moved back to the top of LaLiga with a 4-1 win over Villarreal on Sunday, are already linked with a string of centre-backs, with the Bernabeu club particularly studying young up-and-coming talent.

Atalanta youngster Giorgio Scalvini, Sporting CP star Goncalo Inacio and Benfica’s Antonio Silva are among the three highest-rated young central defenders in Europe, all of whom appear on Real Madrid’s immediate radar.

Of the trio, Inacio looks the player likeliest to be signed, purely because Real Madrid have been studying him for months. While he has a €60 million price tag on his head, Sporting have made it known that they can be flexible over payment terms.

Silva, meanwhile, is likely to cost around €50m while Scalvini is the least likely of the trio to move to Real Madrid because of a release clause that values him at €100m.

Eintracht Frankfurt defender Willian Pacho is a fourth option that has been mentioned and would offer a cheaper player around the €40m mark.

Finally, Real Madrid are also considering a ‘Kepa-like’ move to sign a veteran centre-back on loan.