Should Real Madrid Sign A Center-back Before The Window Closes?

These observations — where I look at Real Madrid’s history, its players on loan, Castilla, tactical tidbits, and other relevant thoughts — are now a regular thing. All previous editions can be found here.

Last summer, Real Madrid headed into the 2023 – 2024 season with alarm bells ringing. Karim Benzema — the club’s best ever striker — had just left. No superstar striker was signed. The season prior, they had endured how difficult life was when Benzema — riddled with injuries — wasn’t on the field. Real Madrid brought in Joselu, a Madridista, back home for some depth. Fans were left underwhelmed, despite the signing of a projected legend, Jude Bellingham.

But they quickly forgot, even despite Vinicius Jr suffering a hamstring injury to start the season while Rodrygo suffered from poor shooting form, that there were squad problems to begin with. Jude Bellingham exceeded everyone’s expectations (the Club’s included) as a makeshift striker, and Joselu chipped in with 18 goals, churning in the greatest performance by a loan player in one season in Real Madrid history. When Vinicius returned from his second big injury — a torn thigh muscle — in January, he hit the ground running. Bellingham’s scoring cooled, but his multi-faceted contributions were impactful. Almost everyone in the squad was great.

Can history repeat itself this season with the shortage of defenders? It will be difficult.

Perhaps Real Madrid’s success in spite of losing Benzema has skewed the club’s perception of what they can and can’t get away with. Carlo Ancelotti is a miracle worker — a leader who never complains and maximizes the squad he’s given. But putting him in that position is always a risk.

Will Real Madrid be stretched too thin? The squad is unbelievable, probably the best in the world, even despite losing Toni Kroos and Nacho. There is enough firepower in this team to to keep the earth’s core hot for trillions of years. But, there is also a realistic scenario where (and I hate typing this), for a stretch, your only two healthy “center-backs” in the squad are Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni. David Alaba may not be back until January, and even then, it will take time for him — just as it did with Eder Militao — to reliably be inserted into the rotation. Jesus Vallejo, in the squad as of now, played three games in the 2023 – 2024 season. It is unclear what version of him currently exists, both physically and mentally.

Beyond mainstay Antonio Rüdiger, that leaves Militao, who hopefully will return back to his best levels, and Tchouameni, who doesn’t like playing center-back. Last season, Nacho soaked up over 1700 minutes due to the decimation of the backline. It would be naive to think you don’t need another Nacho now.

And it’s important to note: It’s not that Real Madrid don’t want to find another Nacho, or another center-back for that matter. It’s also not that Real Madrid didn’t want to find another Karim Benzema. They were looking. In 2023, they lost out on Mbappe. In 2024, they lost out on Leny Yoro. The plan B was not another player — it was a bet on the remaining squad. You either get your guy, or you don’t. You either capitalize on a market opportunity, or miss out. What you don’t do here is force a signing just because you’re short.

There are clear pros and cons to this approach. Shoe-horning signings that don’t work out are costly, not only financially, but also to the team’s harmony and roster space. Had Real Madrid signed Harry Kane last summer, that may have meant not getting Mbappe this summer. Were fans willing to make that trade? With hindsight, no. But in the moment, this was a huge source of frustration for many. Kane is a prolific scorer, about as good as a like-for-like replacement for Benzema as you’ll get. Wounds were still open from the Mbappe snub in 2022.

Would Real Madrid have won the league by an even bigger margin with Kane? Would we have been stripped of Bellingham having one of the greatest debut seasons in club history? Would the Kane trophy curse have torpedoed Real Madrid into disaster? (I say that only 99% joking.)

We’ll never know. Diving down hypothetical scenarios can be fun, but doesn’t serve much purpose other than that. The club can learn from previous mistakes, but has to move fast in an ever-changing market. The belief in the squad last season paid off. The club understands the center-back situation isn’t ideal, but it’s also not worth allocating a roster spot to someone they don’t want — just for the sake it.

Many, this author included, feel the club should sign someone as an insurance policy. But “getting a body” is complicated. If it’s a higher profile signing, he would be expensive. Even worse, a higher profile signing at this stage would mean splashing on someone the club doesn’t want long term. They scouted Yoro. They believed in his abilities. They don’t feel that way about others, for now.

Real Madrid could go the other route, and promote someone from the youth team. They could have also kept Rafa Marin. Would Ancelotti trust a young center-back like that over simply playing Tchouameni at center-back? There is no telling. It could curtail the precious playing time needed for those players.

Ideally, you could commit to a one year rental. The fear of spending big on a long term contract is real, and justified. Could you find the Joselu of the backline? A veteran willing to sacrifice playing time in order to be part of something special? That’s why a Pepe or Mats Hummels is appealing. The rental option — the Joselu archetype — is more intriguing than a long-term signing.

The club really believes in Joan Martinez. Whether he is ready now or not is perhaps a different discussion. But as a project, as a footballer, they are really high on him. He is the kind of kid Juni Calafat would scout if Real Madrid didn’t already have him in their ranks.

“He has an important potential, he is very young, he has everything a central defender needs, he is very attentive, very good with the ball,” Carlo Ancelotti said after Real Madrid’s first pre-season game against AC Milan. “He has to improve a lot of things, he can have a future at Real Madrid. He must continue in the youth academy, which does a very good job.”

Real Madrid won’t force another signing before the window. When the player they want pops up as a market opportunity, he will arrive. Until then, the club will keep pushing forward, and their track record of winning with this strategy is second to none.