Although Carlo Ancelotti has been able to guide his Real Madrid side to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League and is also in a position to win La Liga in the coming weeks, the team’s prospects looked very bleak earlier in the season.
The Merengues lost their starting goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, and one of their key defenders, Eder Militao, to long-term injuries at the very beginning of the season. Later, David Alaba also suffered a torn ACL, and was sidelined for the rest of the season.
Thus, Real Madrid had to endure this season without some key players in defense. While the likes of Rudiger, Tchouameni, and Nacho have kept the center of the defense from leaking too much this season, Mundo Deportivo reports that Real Madrid are still looking for more center-backs and two new names are now being associated with them.
Firstly, there is the Arsenal defender, William Saliba, who has been one of the most impressive defenders in the Premier League this season. He has made 34 Premier League appearances and another 10 UCL appearances for Arsenal this season, and has also scored two goals and given one assist in the former competition.
Owing to this importance in the team, Arsenal are not really keen to part with the defender, and, in fact, want to renew his contract that is expiring in 2027. The French defender is currently valued at €80 million.
The second defender that is being linked with Real Madrid is the AC Milan center-back Malick Thiaw. The German international has appeared 17 times in the Serie A this season, while also having played five matches in the UCL and another four matches in UEL. Aged 22 years, the centre-back has a market value of €30 million and his current contract also goes till 2027.
In addition to these two players, Real Madrid have also been closely linked with the French defender, Leny Yoro. Furthermore, with Alphonso Davies also being closely linked to the club, it looks increasingly likely that significant changes are going to take place in the team’s defense for the next season.
