Amid a severe dip in form, Real Madrid have looked lost on the pitch, with most of the focus on Carlo Ancelotti’s job security. The Italian has shouldered the vast majority of the criticism, but internally, Los Blancos are starting to accept they did not give him all of the necessary tools.
Off the back of their 3-1 defeat to AC Milan and El Clasico thumping, Real Madrid have decided to try and bring in a right-back this January. That is part of an internal acknowledgement that the squad building this summer was not as good as they thought it might be. The Athletic say that General Manager Jose Angel Sanchez has agreed with Ancelotti that reinforcements are needed, after squad planning that has been in question from the early weeks of the season.
After seeing Rafael Leao and Raphinha give Lucas Vazquez serious problems, #RealMadrid have decided the right-back position cannot wait until the summer.
It is their priority for the January transfer window. (Marca) pic.twitter.com/lSxFlV39IA
— Football España (@footballespana_) November 6, 2024
Meanwhile Marca confirm that the realisation that their planning in the summer transfer market was not at the level that it needed to be, something accentuated by Dani Carvajal’s injury.
The absence of Carvajal looks particularly large, with only Lucas Vazquez a natural replacement to cover him. However there were more foreseeable issues, such as going into the season with only Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao as fit and trusted central defenders after missing out on Leny Yoro. Losing a players as key as Joselu Mato, Nacho Fernandez and Toni Kroos without bringing in reinforcements is also looking less clever.
More on Carlo Ancelotti and Real Madrid’s squad planning issues here, in one of our latest analyses.
