Davies and Mbappé Have Halted Florentino’s €60 Million Center-Back Signing
Real Madrid persists: it is very unlikely that any signings will be made during the winter transfer market. The latest board meeting has yielded some very interesting conclusions.
The Madrid executives have reached an agreement that would almost completely rule out the arrival of any player during the upcoming January transfer window, which is just two weeks away. In the Valdebebas offices, they have two signings ‘pending’ for the summer market: Davies and Mbappé. It is these two players who would have cut the options for making moves during the next month.
The numbers don’t add up for the board led by Florentino Pérez, which is looking for a signing that follows the rule of the three Bs: good, beautiful, and cheap. Unfortunately, the good and beautiful options are anything but cheap. Center-backs like Leny Yoro, Gonçalo Inácio, or Antonio Silva are the names that scouts consider as future stars, but their price is above €60 million.
This is the same amount that Florentino Pérez would have projected to close the deal for Alphonso Davies, who is a true priority for the Madrid leaders. The possibility of Ferland Mendy leaving this summer, supposedly heading to Saudi Arabia, would free up the necessary space for the arrival of the Canadian ’19’ from Bayern Munich.
Alternatives The other player influencing the possible signing of a center-back during the winter transfer market is Kylian Mbappé. The arrival of the Bondy forward at the Santiago Bernabéu would be as a free agent, but the payment of the signing bonus and his salary still need to be resolved, surely the highest in the entire first-team squad.
This tight economic forecast has considerably narrowed Real Madrid’s objectives. Especially since Ancelotti has opposed signings that he considers “experiments”: he only wants center-backs with experience in elite football or major star projects that can provide a long-term alternative instead of a half-season loan that disappears with the arrival of a new football season.
