Real Madrid are down to the bare bones at the back, with only 17-year-old right-back Jesus Fortea and Castilla centre-back Raul Asencio available for Carlo Ancelotti as natural options for those positions after the international break. Following injuries to Lucas Vazquez and Eder Militao, they could well be involved for the rest of the season too.
That does exclude Jesus Vallejo, but Ancelotti and the club have made it clear that he is not under consideration for a real role in the squad. Asencio came on and made his debut on Saturday against Osasuna, providing an assist, while Fortea has been training with the first team in recent weeks.
Diario AS say that Los Blancos will not act in the January transfer market unless any of their summer targets, most notably Jonathan Tah, Alphonso Davies and Trent Alexander-Arnold, become available on a good deal. Sergio Ramos and Aymeric Laporte have been linked with January moves, but it is not in Florentino Perez’s plans to bring either in during the winter.
Ancelotti is in favour of signing reinforcements, but will follow the club line, and will not request any signings this season. Only fresh injuries will change that plan, as per their information.
David Alaba, Lucas Vazquez and Aurelien Tchouameni should all return before the end of the year, although that is less certain in the case of the Austrian, which could make the situation a little less desperate. Ancelotti may be wondering if expectations will shrink to the same degree as his resources.