After another disastrous season for Real Madrid, could it be all change in the Spanish capital this summer? In the face of wide-spread criticism of President Florentino Pérez, he called en election, assuming no one else would be able to run. However, 37 year old Enrique Riquelme is standing against Pérez, with growing belief that he could actually win on election day on 7 June.
This may put José Mourinho's re-appointment as manager on ice for a couple of weeks, as well as potentially delaying los Blancos' summer transfer activity. However, once they do enter the market, it is obvious to all that centre-back is the position they most require reinforcements.
Firstly because Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba, both of whom are 33 years old, are departing as free agents. This only leaves Éder Militão, who is currently nursing yet another long-term injury, Raúl Asencio who is simply not good enough for this level, and Dean Huijsen.
The latter, who arrived from Bournemouth for around €60 million a year ago, was excluded from Luis de la Fuente's Spain squad on Monday, despite starting six successive competitive fixtures last year, including the Nations League semis and final. Huijsen not going to the World Cup a few months ago would have been unthinkable, but is an indication of his decline in form.
Nevertheless, Real Madrid's primary issue when it comes to centre-backs in recent seasons has been injuries. For numerous campaigns now, all of their options in this position have endured countless elongated periods on the sidelines, which cannot continue.
Real Madrid centre-back: Matches missed due to injury per season
Players | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 |
|---|---|---|---|
Dean Huijsen | 11 | ||
Éder Militão | 40 | 48 | 32 |
Antonio Rüdiger | 5 | 11 | 23 |
David Alaba | 33 | 37 | 15 |
Raúl Asencio | 1 | 8 | |
Nacho | 1 |
The numbers underline how unsustainable Real Madrid's defensive injury issues have been across the last three seasons. During this period, Alaba has sat out 85 matches and Militão 120, which is obviously unfortunate and not to blame these two people, but means they simply cannot be relied up. Nacho wasn't the best player to ever play for Real Madrid, but was someone managers could always call upon, so his departure for Al-Qadsiah in the summer of 2024 is an underrated poor choice.
Even Huijsen has not been able to remain available throughout the campaign, recruited to be a near-ever present figure. So, with Rüdiger and Alaba on the way out and Militão not someone you can count on, that only really leaves Huijsen. Thus, los Merengues require two if not three new centre-backs this summer, especially given that Dani Carvajal is departing too.
Ibrahima Konaté's Liverpool form means interest in the Frenchman has cooled, although he could still swap Merseyside for Madrid, but they really need to be busy in this department in the coming months.
Add us as a preferred source on Google