Real Madrid need to strengthen in a number of positions in future transfer windows, despite their fantastic start to the season. One of those has to be centre-back. While the club have some of the best youngsters in world football all across the pitch, their defensive backline is ageing and reinforcements are required soon.
Antonio Rudiger, Nacho Fernandez and David Alaba are all past 30 years of age. On the other hand, Eder Militao will be coming back from a serious ACL injury and it remains to be seen whether that will have any long-term effects on his game. These types of injuries can be career-altering ones for sure.
Real Madrid have been linked with plenty of centre-backs in recent times. One of them is Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite.
Everton signed Branthwaite during Ancelotti's time as the manager of the Merseyside club. Since then, he has grown into one of the most highly-rated young centre-backs in English football and a move to a top team seems like only a matter of time.
Manchester United pushing to sign Real Madrid-linked defender
Unfortunately, Real Madrid are not the only ones to be linked with the Everton centre-back. As reported by the Daily Mail (via Sky Sports), Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are pushing hardest to sign Branthwaite this summer
Someone like Branthwaite has the potential to be an excellent long-term signing for Real Madrid. The biggest advantage is that Ancelotti has already worked with the centre-back and will know what to expect from him.
That being said, Real Madrid would not want to get involved in a transfer tug-of-war with clubs from the Premier League. Thus, it would not be a surprise if they move their sights elsewhere. The centre-back that the club have been most heavily linked with in recent weeks is Leny Yoro of Lille.