Three defenders on Real Madrid’s radar after Leny Yoro joins Manchester United | OneFootball

Real Madrid’s summer plans have been thrown into the air a little, after Leny Yoro elected to join Manchester United rather than wait for them to strike a deal with Lille. It leaves them with just Eder Militao, David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger at centre-back, as well as Jesus Vallejo, but he is not in their plans.

According to Diario AS, the likes of Al-Nassr’s Aymeric Laporte, Union Berlin’s Diogo Leite and Ajax defender Jorrel Hato have all been on their radar in recent months. Los Blancos were scouting Hato, but he renewed his deal with Ajax until 2028 recently. Other options suggested have been former players Mario Gila and Rafa Marin, playing for Lazio and Napoli respectively. Marin only left weeks ago, but Real Madrid could do a deal much cheaper, with a 50% sell-on clause included in their exits.

Nevertheless, the plan Real Madrid are edging towards is to stick with what they have. Unless a bargain option presents itself in the coming six weeks, then Real Madrid will opt to use Aurelien Tchouameni as a fourth central defender. Their hope is that there are no more serious injuries before David Alaba returns towards the end of the year.

It is certainly a risky strategy, but also an understandable one. Of late, Real Madrid tend to only act in the transfer market if they have identified a player well in advance, as was the case with Yoro, and Jude Bellingham before that. They have been rather frugal in recent years when it comes to filling out their squad, preferring not to sign for the sake of it.