Real Madrid: 5 players competing in AFCON 2022 to monitor as transfer targets

Burkina Faso CB Edmond Tapsoba

Center-back has been a priority position to solve for Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid. They only have Nacho Fernandez as the only capable backup and that is not at all ideal. Jesus Vallejo’s future isn’t in the Spanish Capital that is something every Madridista must have realized by now. Hence, my pick from the AFCON is a very logical one. He is Bayer Leverkusen’s Burkinabe CB Edmond Tapsoba.

Tapsoba is only 22 years old and yet, he is showing what he is capable of in the Bundesliga as well as the Europa League. He definitely strikes me as a player who could be a good investment. I talked extensively about how signing another star center-back isn’t the right move for Los Blancos at the moment and rather a backup player is more reasonable. Tapsoba actually is someone who could agree to that backup role in the World’s greatest club, nonetheless.

One look at Tapsoba’s stats is enough to suggest that he is more of a ball-playing center-back. He attempts a lot of passes (97th percentile) and also is quietly making a mark on the progressive stage of moves. Tapsoba fits the profile that Carlo Ancelotti would love to work with. He is one of the up-and-coming ball-playing center-backs and a younger one at that.

He is definitely the most logical player in the position to keep an eye on. Transfermarkt values him at 40 million euros with his contract set to expire in 2026. Real Madrid has a lot of options to look at before they make a move in this priority position in the summer of 2022