Real Madrid will be buyers in the summer transfer market again this year, because after ignoring two important areas of need for quite a bit, president Florentino Perez will be forced to sign a deep lying playmaker in the midfield and a new center back to compete with the current crop.
Although Eder Militao is sealed as a top starter for the Merengues, the other spot in the starting lineup remains entirely up for grabs. And after sustaining a third significant injury for a third year in a row, Militao's own status long term has to be a bit in question - and Real Madrid do need a legitimate alternative to him.
Last summer's signing Dean Huijsen looks good but still needs room to grow. Antonio Rudiger will likely stay, but David Alaba is as good as gone and Raul Asencio may even join him, too.
Ibrahima Konate will soon agree with Liverpool
So as Real Madrid fans contemplate dream signings like Nico Schlotterbeck, the main name linked to them throughout the 2025/26 season has been impending free agent Ibrahima Konate. The Liverpool "star" seems easy enough to sign, and while the rumors were hot to start the season, they cooled off as he started playing very poorly. Lately, though the rumor have come back again, with Liverpool and Konate still slow to negotiate on new terms.
Now, though, top transfer insider Fabrizio Romano is reporting that Liverpool are "now closer" to striking a "full agreement" on a new contract with Konate before the former RB Leipzig man's deal expires at the end of the 2025/26 campaign. Per Fab, despite the rumors, Real Madrid actually stopped talks with Konate in November, while talks with Liverpool are now "progressing" and moving "well", with the Reds "confident" they can get this deal done.
Real Madrid fans will not feel one bit sad about this news, especially since Romano added that Real haven't really been negotiating with Ibrahima Konate. Although Eduardo Camavinga has tried to pitch him subtly to Real, Los Blancos have been mostly uninterested, and it may be a case like with Alphonso Davies of an agent using Madrid more than Madrid are interested in him, especially lately as talks between Konate and Liverpool move down to the wire.
That's all over now, though, and Konate was truly a fool's gold kind of signing. He is a good center back, but he is nowhere near the caliber of player Real Madrid want. He's not been better than Huijsen, Militao, or Rudiger this season, nor is he better than Schlotterbeck or even Castello Lukeba, who is currently at Leipzig. PSG just exposed his flaws badly in the Champions League, as has been the case all season long at Anfield.