Real Madrid two most recent transfers were attacking signings in winger Yan Diomande and backup striker Carlos Espi, while Rodri is set to sign with Los Blancos next and become their new starting No. 6 under Jose Mourinho.
The last remaining signing for Mourinho to make, then, is another center back, but he has already signed a world class central defender that many people seem to have forgotten or grossly underrated.
Ibrahima Konate is a steal of a center back signing for Real Madrid as a free agent, and while it seemed like Los Blancos were waffling on him at one point, the Liverpool man was a signing Jose Mourinho and Florentino Perez 100 percent had to make.
Ibrahima Konate is a better transfer than everyone thinks
And when you look at the going rate for worse center backs, you really have to say that the Konate transfer is aging even better already this same window. In the latest big center back transfer, Chelsea spent 60 million euros on Crystal Palace's Maxence Lacroix, Konate's French national teammate.
Lacroix gets nowhere near the French starting XI because of Konate, and if Lacroix is going for 60 million euros, then Konate's market rate at this point is 80 million euros. Because as much as Lacroix is talked about as an up and coming Premier League center back and people are writing off Ibrahima Konate as a has been after one weak season on an awful Arne Slot Liverpool, Konate is only one year older than Lacroix despite being a Premier League champion.
So Real Madrid, for nothing at all, signed one of the best center backs in the world, a starter for France, a long time starter for Liverpool, and a Premier League champion when a more mistake prone player went for 60 million euros and is just one year younger.
And that is no disrespect to Maxence Lacroix either. He is a great signing for Chelsea and was such a great player for Wolfsburg early in his career that Real Madrid were monitoring him as long ago as the early 2020s. But even then, Konate was one of the best players in the world in his position, starring for RB Leipzig as a world class Bundesliga defender in 2018/19.
Real Madrid have signed a new, sure fire starting center back for free in a summer 2026 market that is favoring bigger and bigger transfer fees. Lacroix is a great barometer for Madridistas to truly appreciate the Konate free transfer.
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