Real Madrid scout two targets during international match

Real Madrid appear to be stepping up plans to sign a new central defender in the summer, with targets having been watched on international duty in the last few days.

In the next couple of years, at least one new centre-back will be needed by Real Madrid, who have Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba coming towards the end of their respective playing careers. Both are not far away from their mid-thirties, and after them, there is only Eder Militao and Raul Asencio as senior options in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad.

In recent weeks, Real Madrid have stepped up their interest in Dean Huijsen, who looks set to leave Premier League side AFC Bournemouth in the summer. The young defender is said to be one of the club’s priority targets for the central defender position, and on Thursday, Los Blancos continued looking into him as they watched his appearance against The Netherlands in Spain’s 2-2 UEFA Nations League quarter-final first leg draw in Rotterdam, as reported by Marca.

As well as Huijsen, Real Madrid also took the opportunity to run the rule over Jorrel Hato, who is another player on the shortlist. However, the young Ajax defender did not have a good evening, as he was shown a straight red card for a strong challenge on Spain counterpart Robin Le Normand.

If it were a “duel” between Huijsen and Hato for Real Madrid’s attention, the former was certainly the winner. But the problem for Los Blancos is that the Spaniard will be a player in very strong demand during the summer transfer window, with a number of Premier League clubs also hoping to acquire his services. Despite this, they believe that they could be favourites due to the player being a fan of the club.