Carlo Ancelotti’s team is in the middle of an injury crisis with eight players in the sickbay, including Dani Carvajal who will miss the remainder of the season.
After the shock of losing Dani Carvajal for the rest of the campaign, the time has come for reflection at Real Madrid. The right-back underwent surgery this morning to repair damage to the anterior cruciate ligament, external collateral ligament and the popliteal tendon in his right leg.
It couldn’t have been a more untimely setback for the player, who is in the final year of his contract - and Ancelotti, who is left without his first-choice right-back as Madrid battle for seven trophies this season for the first time in club history.
Madrid not planning to sign anyone in January... for now
However, the club won’t be rushing into things and as has been the policy in recent years, Madrid won’t be looking for a short-term replacement in the winter transfer window. The first message sent out by the club was unequivocal: “There will be no signings in the winter transfer market, that’s why Lucas Vázquez was renewed and there is full confidence in him.”
That’s the club’s intention for now. But of course, logically, everything will depend on how events unfold in the time between now and the winter transfer market opening. The last time Madrid got their wallet out in the January window was in 2020 when they signed Reinier as a future prospect but he was moved on without making a single appearance for the club.
If the distance between the team and Barça in LaLiga starts to get out of hand and if Ancelotti’s men comes out badly in the next three Champions League matches (against Dortmund, Milan and Liverpool...), alarm bells could go off and Plan B could be activated. On the other hand, if the team performs well, in a repeat of the most difficult season to date, everything will remain the same as now.
José Ángel Sánchez and Juni Calafat have all the possibilities planned and calculated. Two positions will need to be reinforced at some point before next season - right-back and central defence. There are several options on the table - RB Leipzig’s Castello Lukeba, Palmeiras’ Vitor Reis and Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah have been mentioned for the heart of the back four, as has Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back.
As always, the final decision will be down to the technical department and the president’s approval to press the button and activate them. Right now, the market offers no guarantees - only emergency solutions, patches and shots in the air. That is not Madrid’s way of doing business and that’s why the club prefers to wait.
But everything depends on what happens in the next two and a half months. A very different situation will be experienced next summer. There are pending tasks. Davies, a right back, a centre back and a playmaker in midfield.