Real Madrid target right-back to replace Carvajal and challenge Alexander-Arnold

Rusty Gorelick

22 Feb 2026 22:15 GMT
2 min read

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez — © IMAGO

Real Madrid have set their sights on Club Brugge right-back Kyriani Sabbe as a replacement for Dani Carvajal and a challenger to Trent Alexander-Arnold, according to Fichajes.

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Carvajal has played less than 500 minutes in La Liga for Madrid, while Alexander-Arnold has not been free from scrutiny this season. Both players have missed extended periods due to injury, which has forced Federico Valverde to cover for them on the right side of defence.

Sabbe, a 21-year-old right-back, has been a key player for the Belgian side for the last two and a half seasons. He is four appearances away from a new high mark of matches played in a season.

The Belgium under-21 international has played 32 matches in 2025/26 and has contributed three assists — two in the Jupiler Pro League and one in the Champions League.

STATS

Kyriani Sabbe

D (RL)

Brugge

Kyriani Sabbe

D (RL)

Brugge

32

Games
0

Goals
3

Assists

Sabbe has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €2.2 million, which would represent unusually good value for money for a new Real Madrid signing.

Los Blancos are looking to get younger in defence, which they began to do last summer with the signings of 20-year-old centre-back Dean Huijsen and 22-year-old left-back Alvaro Carreras.

What Sabbe can bring to the Bernabeu

Sabbe has proven himself capable of winning the ball in one-v-one situations in the league and Champions League.

He wins 57 percent of his total duels and 62.5 percent of his aerial duels in the league. His percentage of headers won dips to 40 percent in the Champions League, but he still manages to win 60 percent of duels overall against stiffer competition in Europe.

Current ETV

Kyriani Sabbe

D (RL)

Brugge

Kyriani Sabbe

D (RL)

Brugge

ETV Range

€1.8M - €2.7M

Lined up across from Marcus Rashford in Club Brugge’s 3-3 draw with Barcelona on 5 November, Sabbe won 6/7 duels and completed 3/4 of his dribble attempts.

He ranks tied for 45th in the Jupiler Pro League with 2.3 tackles won per 90 minutes, which becomes more impressive when considering that Club Brugge hold the largest share of possession per match at a staggering 62.9 percent.

He showed his creative side in Club Brugge’s 4-1 Champions League victory over Monaco, creating a match-best four chances.

Sabbe is used to playing in an attacking team that likes to dominate possession and dictate the tempo, which Los Blancos usually do in La Liga. He also has 17 matches of Champions League experience.

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