Real Madrid's summer plans have been thrown into the air a bit, then Leny Yoro has chosen to join Manchester United rather than waiting for them to make a deal with Lille. It leaves them with only Eder Militao, David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger at center back, as well as Jesus Vallejo, but it is not in their plans.
According to AS Diary, the likes of Al-Nassr's Aymeric Laporte, Union Berlin's Diogo Leite and Ajax defender Jorrel Hato have all been on his radar in recent months. The Blancos discovered Hato, but he recently renewed his deal with Ajax until 2028. Other suggested options have been former players Mario Gila and Rafa Marin, who played for Lazio and Napoli respectively. Marin left just weeks ago, but Real Madrid could do a much cheaper deal, with a 50% sell-on clause included in his exits.
However, the plan Real Madrid they tend towards is to stay with what they have. Unless a deal option presents itself in the next six weeks, Real Madrid will opt to use Aurelien Tchouameni as a fourth centre-back. Their hope is that there are no more serious injuries before David Alaba returns towards the end of the year.
It's certainly a risky strategy, but also an understandable one. In the end, Real Madrid tends to act only in the transfer market if it has identified a player well in advance, as was the case with Yoro, and Jude Bellingham before. They have been rather frugal in recent years when it comes to filling their team, preferring not to sign for love.
