Real Madrid News
Real Madrid set sights on €10 million-rated South American defensive talent – report
Real Madrid plan on signing a new central defender in the summer of 2025 after having had to deal with injuries and a lack of depth in the position for the second season in a row.
Indeed, with Nacho Fernandez leaving, Jesus Vallejo out of favour and David Alaba’s recovery from ACL injury taking much longer than expected, Carlo Ancelotti has had to make do with Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger as his only two main centre-backs.
Youngster Joan Martinez suffered an ACL injury in pre-season while Jacobo Ramon has also struggled with muscle issues.
As a result, Real Madrid have made the decision to strengthen the centre-back department in the summer, with several targets identified.
Links to the likes of Vitor Reis, Castello Lukeba, and Aymeric Laporte have been doing the rounds for some time now, but a new name has now popped up on the Spanish capital giants’ radars.
Valentin Gomez catches Real Madrid’s attention
Indeed, according to AS, Real Madrid have set their sights on Velez Sarsfield youngster Valentin Gomez as a possible alternative to reinforce their defence for next season.
Gomez has become a permanent fixture in the Velez backline despite being just 21 years old, having already made 98 first-team appearances for the Argentine outfit.
The young defensive talent has also featured ten times for the Argentine Under-20 national team as well.
As per the report, Gomez has already caught the attention of Argentine giants River Plate and Boca Juniors. Now it appears that Real Madrid have also taken note of his development.
The fact that the 21-year-old is a left-footed defender is bound to appeal to the La Liga champions while his price is estimated to be around €10 million only even though he still has more than two years left on his contract.
As mentioned earlier, though, Real Madrid have other options on their agenda as well, with Laporte, Lukeba, and Reis all being looked at. So, only time will tell which way Los Blancos will lean come summer.
Real Madrid prospect Alexis Ciria will have to wait for his Champions League opportunity despite making a strong impression on Jose Mourinho during pre-season.
The Castilla winger has been left out of Real Madrid’s European squad, but the decision is the consequence of UEFA registration rules rather than a sporting judgment.
According to journalist Arancha Rodriguez (h/t Defensa Central), Ciria was not eligible for Madrid’s List B because he has not been with the club long enough to satisfy UEFA’s requirements.
Registering him would therefore have required Mourinho to include him on the more restrictive List A.
UEFA rules work against Ciria
List B provides clubs with additional flexibility to register young academy players, but being young enough is not sufficient on its own.
Players must also meet requirements concerning how long they have been eligible to represent the club.
Ciria does not meet those conditions because of his limited time at Valdebebas. Real Madrid would therefore have needed to sacrifice a List A position to register him.
With those places required for members of Mourinho’s senior squad, Ciria was ultimately left out.
Real Madrid’s List B instead includes youngsters such as Joan Martinez, Mario Rivas, Thiago Pitarch, Jorge Cestero and Daniel Yanez.
Many of these youngsters made a name for themselves under Mourinho during pre-season and could be used to make up the numbers in the Champions League squad.
They could also get some minutes off the bench, especially against relatively easier opposition, as Jose Mourinho looks to manage first-team minutes.
Mourinho still plans first-team opportunity
Importantly for Ciria, missing the Champions League squad does not appear to reflect a change in Mourinho’s opinion of him.
The youngster impressed during pre-season and is expected to continue spending time around the senior team.
Mourinho intends to give Ciria his official first-team debut during the season. That opportunity will now have to arrive in La Liga or the Copa del Rey.
The Portuguese tactician placed a lot of emphasis on trusting Castilla players during pre-season in the absence of first-team stars.
Ciria was one of the many names who made a name for themselves at Real Madrid during pre-season. He deserves a chance in the first team, and it remains to be seen how Jose plans his development.
