Out of nowhere, Real Madrid are signing one of the best right backs in the world, just one year after landing Trent Alexander-Arnold as a free agent. Denzel Dumfries is now a two-time Serie A champion for Inter Milan, and though he was injured last season and not necessarily coming off his best year, that maybe only makes him an even sweeter steal for Madrid.
Just hours after he first reported of Real's interest in Dumfries, things have accelerated so much that Fabrizio Romano has given Los Merengues the fabled "Here We Go" for the Dumfries transfer. He is going to be even cheaper than anticipated, as his release clause is actually, per Fab, for 20 million euros and not 25 million euros.
So for 20 million euros, Real Madrid are getting one of the best athletes in football with great tactical feel and well above average technical ability for the right back position on the attacking end. They are getting a guy who can run back and forth down that flank on offense and defense with reckless abandon, and a guy who has been to two Champions League Finals but is still hungry since he won neither.
Trent Alexander-Arnold might be Madrid's Joshua Kimmich
Where does that leave, Trent Alexander-Arnold, though? Well, maybe, Real Madrid are going to try that experiment the England national team and Liverpool tried but were not able to succeed with and making him a deep lying playmaker, converting him to the midfield in the same way that Bayern Munich did with Joshua Kimmich.
There are some risks and pitfalls, and there is an admission that needs to be made when invoking Kimmich. At Bayern, Kimmich was the best right back in the world and a much better defensive player than Trent. But Trent is not a bad defender, despite a few lazy narratives that Premier League Big Six rivals started years ago, and he is an even better creator and passer than the world-class Kimmich, who was a long-time dream target of Real Madrid's.
Dumfries is too good to be a backup, but he's not the left footed right wing profile Madrid want to play further up the pitch. And Real Madrid are going to be paying Dumfries and Alexander-Arnold too much in wages to have one of them sit on the bench.
But with the way Trent has been spraying passes - many of them shoud be assists - and showing composure on the ball, Real Madrid, with that bit of arrogance that makes them so great, may see how they can finally turn Trent into that world-class controlling midfielder left of center so that his range of passing and even goal-scoring threat from distance can be maximized.
Real Madrid will believe they can succeed where the team they regularly beat up on in the Champions League knockouts, Liverpool, failed, and with age and wisdom, maybe Trent is better equipped to play in the midfield now than before. Dumfries is more than a backup and a market opportunity Real Madrid could not pass up on; he could be the missing piece that sets of a domino of events that greatly upgrades the entire Madrid XI.
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