One of football’s long-held truisms is the lack of value in the January transfer window.
Real Madrid have been stung before by this accepted wisdom and have no intention of suffering again. Since signing the promising but wildly disappointing Brazilian Reinier for €30m (£26m) four years ago, Madrid have not made a single permanent transfer – ingoing or outgoing – in January.
Carlo Ancelotti also knows the pain that winter purchases can cause. The revered Italian was in charge of Chelsea when Fernando Torres joined from Liverpool for £50m back in 2011, comfortably one of the worst January switches in history.
While plenty in the Spanish capital may be wary, the debilitating slew of injuries suffered by the squad – including three ACL tears – may force Madrid to reluctantly wade into the winter window.
Real Madrid are the only club inside La Liga’s top six to have failed to make a single move over the first three weeks of the winter window.
While Barcelona accelerated their acquisition of Brazilian striker Vitor Roque, Ancelotti’s squad has remained untouched. Madrid did fork out north of £110m in the summer window – more than double Barcelona, the division’s next biggest spenders – and have to adhere to La Liga’s strict financial regulations, much to the outward disgust of president Florentino Perez.
However, there is still some scope for recruitment this month.
Ancelotti may have insisted that Real Madrid do not need to sign a new centre-back this winter but that was before Nacho Fernandez took to the field against Almeria.
Real Madrid’s club captain started the match alongside Antonio Rudiger but was stewing on the bench by half-time, still in his full kit thinking back to the pair of goals he had handed to the only team without a win in Europe’s top five leagues.
Nacho’s horror show at the Bernabeu has hardly been his only misstep but it provided a timely reminder of the 34-year-old’s limitations. With Eder Militao and David Alaba both sidelined for the rest of the season with ruptured knee ligaments, Nacho and Rudiger are Madrid’s only natural centre-backs.
Aurelien Tchouameni has occasionally dropped back from midfield and Ancelotti is under the impression that right-back Dani Carvajal can also cut it into the middle of defence. Yet, if Madrid are to fend off the challenge of Girona domestically while pursuing their perpetual Champions League obsession, the Spanish giants may need another defensive option.
As early as October, with a smattering of appearances under his belt before even turning 18, Leny Yoro has been on the radar of Europe’s elite. 90min revealed that Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were interested in Lille’s left-footed centre-back last autumn. Paris Saint-Germain have since joined the race while Madrid are also thought to be sniffing around.
While far from the finished product, Yoro has scarcely looked out of place at the heart of a Lille backline which has underpinned the club’s Champions League qualification aspirations. Incidentally, Madrid are one of just four clubs to have conceded fewer league goals this season than Lille.
There isn’t much fat to trim from Madrid’s streamlined squad.
Theo Zidane, son of Madrid’s former player and manager, has only made two senior squads this season, spending most of his time at RM Castilla, the club’s B team, in the third tier of Spanish football.
There is little chance of the central midfielder breaking into Ancelotti’s plans this term. As the Italian pointed out to the press earlier in the season, he is not lacking options in the middle of the park. “We have seven midfielders and only four play,” Ancelotti shrugged, “and when I put five you also throw sticks at me, so better to stay with four.”
At 21, Zidane Jr may be best served seeking out a loan spell at a club in the Segunda if not La Liga. Lucas Canizares, yet more offspring of Spanish footballing royalty, is a goalkeeper like his father Santiago. Yet, even though Thibaut Courtois has been out injured since August, Canizares has barely been able to get a spot on Madrid’s bench with Kepa Arrizabalaga and Andriy Lunin battling for the number one shirt.
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