- 36 minutes ago
Two down, three to go? Real Madrid’s Transfer Needs for next season
Analysis
This summer a new era is starting for Real Madrid.
Carlo Ancelotti is finally leaving the Santiago Bernabeu after four years in charge and it's widely acknowledged that Xabi Alonso will be the man to replace him.
Xabi Alonso, a Real Madrid legend as a player, will arrive from Bayer Leverkusen having led the German club to their first-ever Bundesliga title in 2023/24.
STATS
Trent Alexander-Arnold
D (R)
Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold
D (R)
Liverpool
And Alonso will know that the Madrid squad will need some work done to it to close the gap with Barcelona, who won the Copa del Rey, are likely to win La Liga, and who beat Los Blancos in each of the four Clasicos played this season.
Alonso is likely to bring the 3-4-3 system with him from Leverkusen. This structure led to Leverkusen playing some devastatingly good football, but in order for it to work in Madrid there would definitely need to be signings made.
To that end, Real Madrid have already secured or are about to secure two big signings for next season.
1. Trent Alexander-Arnold
The first is Trent Alexander-Arnold. Madrid have been pursuing Alexander-Arnold for a year now and appear to have finally gotten their man as the full-back has confirmed he will be leaving Liverpool.
While Alexander-Arnold has yet to confirm where he is going next season, everyone has more or less understood that his next club will be Real Madrid.
In the 3-4-3 system there are two possible roles for Trent, right wing-back and central midfield.
The Englishman is a terrible defender in a traditional back four, but moving him higher up the pitch will allow him to focus more on his playmaking and somewhat fill the role vacated by Toni Kroos (other parts of Kroos' role will be filled by likely RW, Arda Guler).
Current ETV
Trent Alexander-Arnold
D (R)
Liverpool
Trent Alexander-Arnold
D (R)
Liverpool
ETV Range
€50.2M - €61.4M
In truth, Trent will likely play a hybrid role of RWB/RCM regardless of which position he actually lines up at.
Given his spectacular passing range, you can see him drifting infield whenever Madrid have the ball and being given the freedom to find spaces and make plays. Meanwhile the more athletic parts of the wing-back role you can see falling onto the shoulders of the mighty Fede Valverde.
Whichever angle Trent is attacking, Valverde has the athleticism and ability to under or overlap him, ensuring Madrid will remain dynamic around their new playmaker.
2. Dean Huijsen
Real Madrid need centre-backs. For the past two seasons, Antonio Rudiger has been working miracles to hold the Madrid defence together basically on his own.
Eder Militao has suffered brutal consecutive ACL tears and David Alaba also suffered an ACL tear and still doesn't look fully sharp since recovering. Those two were meant to be the main partners for Rudiger and they've just been absent.
Enter Dean Huijsen.
Current ETV
Dean Huijsen
D (C)
B'mouth
Dean Huijsen
D (C)
B'mouth
ETV Range
€49.5M - €60.5M
The 6'5, 20 year-old Dutch-born Spaniard is one of the hottest prospects in Europe. Luckily for Los Blancos, the youngster grew up a Real Madrid fan and his idol is none other than Sergio Ramos!
So it should come as no surprise that Huijsen has allegedly rebuffed interest from various Premier League giants and will join Real Madrid this summer once Los Blancos pay Bournemouth his €50 million release clause (which can be done in installments!)
Huijsen is sensational on the ball and should become a cornerstone of the new Madrid defence. But he can't be the only one.
3. Another centre-back
Rudiger and Huijsen are locked in as starters next season, and one would expect Valdebebas jewel Jacobo Ramon to be one of their centre-backs too.
Given the threat of jail time hanging over Raul Asencio, those three are your only really solid options. Obviously Alaba and Militao exist but the extent to which they can be relied upon, given their injury problems, is very much unknown.
So Madrid need another centre-back.
They could try and poach Jonathan Tah, who was Alonso's captain at Leverkusen, on a free transfer. But the German international seems like he's heading to Bayern Munich.
Ibrahima Konate is a year away from his Liverpool contract expiring, so Los Blancos could target him and hope that the Reds would be more amiable to do a deal in order to avoid the kind of problems they had with Alexander-Arnold leaving on a free.
Compared
Ibrahima Konaté
D (C)
Liverpool
Ibrahima Konaté
D (C)
Liverpool
VS
Piero Hincapié
D (CL)
Bayer 04
Piero Hincapié
D (CL)
Bayer 04
2024/2025
Season Statistics
2024/2025
| 50 | Tackles | 75 |
| 29 | Interceptions | 49 |
| 3717 | Minutes Played | 3726 |
| 2606 | Passes | 2646 |
Piero Hincapie is a superb Ecuadorian centre-back who also played under Alonso at Leverkusen. Hincapie just signed a new contract six months ago but is said to be priced at around €50 million so could be a touch too expensive.
The final option is Olivier Boscagli, the French centre-back who has just won the Eredivisie with PSV. At 26 years-old Boscagli would be reliable depth and, most appealingly, would be available on a free transfer this summer.
4. Left wing-back (Alvaro Carreras)
Real Madrid haven't really had an established left-back since Marcelo fell out of favour. They've tried various guys there but there's always something missing.
With it shifting to a wing-back role, Fran Garcia should become more useful as the Spaniard was always lively going forward and miserable in defence. But he's got back-up energy, so a starter is needed.
Enter Alvaro Carreras.
STATS
Álvaro Carreras
D (L)
Benfica
Álvaro Carreras
D (L)
Benfica
The 22 year-old Spaniard actually spent three years at Real Madrid as a teenager before joining Man Utd where he broke through one pre-season only to be punted out on loan (because Man Utd are the most absurd club in the world).
He's an aggressive and athletic full-back who has an all-around skill-set. Currently at Benfica, he would definitely be expensive, with his asking price around €50 million.
But to Madrid he would be worth it. With Trent being a more considered, playmaking presence on the right, Madrid would want a proper flying wing-back on the left. Someone to get up and down the flank.
Carreras fits that role perfectly, and what's more he played twice against Lamine Yamal this season with Benfica and did better than anyone else who had to try and contain the young prodigy.
Barcelona still won both games, but Alvaro limited the 17 year-old's influence about as well as anyone on any team managed to. Certainly better than any Madrid defenders managed to!
There are other options here, like Alejandro Grimaldo, but none make as much sense as Carreras does and Relevo are now reporting that the Spaniard is Madrid's next target after Dean Huijsen.
5. Striker
The final piece of the puzzle is the most obvious: Real Madrid need a striker.
Not necessarily a prolific goalscorer, mind you. But a striker all the same.
Kylian Mbappe has scored 40 goals so far in his debut season with Madrid and all signs point to him cracking 50 in his sophomore campaign. He just needs someone who is going to help unlock him in those tricky games against obstinate defences. Mbappe needs his Giroud.
Endrick is a profound talent but lacks the maturity to lead the line for Madrid. And while there will be games where Mbappe can be Madrid's 9, there will also be times when they need a big man up there.
Alonso was never shy about putting a big man up-top with Leverkusen, whether it was Victor Boniface or Patrik Schick, Alonso knew the value of a big lad you can hoof it to in desperate situations.
So who could Madrid go for?
Obviously this isn't a position you'd want to invest too heavily in given that for a lot of games they may not even play much, certainly from the start.
This is the kind of key squad role that's hard to find. Joselu played it to perfection in 2023/24, but who could do that in 2025/26?
Looking around La Liga two names that immediately jump to mind are Croatian Ante Budimir and Kosovan Vedat Muriqi.
STATS
Ante Budimir
F (C)
Osasuna
Ante Budimir
F (C)
Osasuna
These are two of the most feared and dominant big men who excel at disrupting centre-backs and causing havoc.
Both men are into their 30's but their size and intelligence could make them ideal target men. And hell, Budimir has 19 goals this season!
No matter who they go for, a new era is dawning for Real Madrid!
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