Real Madrid has a clear roadmap for the deals it wants to close this summer during the transfer window. The first key signing has been Xabi Alonso, who will begin a new era, hopefully a successful one, at the club after a difficult year following the departure of Carlo Ancelotti.
In terms of players, the priority was defense, and that has marked the first steps with the signing of Dean Huijsen and the negotiations with Alexander-Arnold and Álvaro Carreras. Once the defense is sorted out, the next important step on the roadmap is the midfield.
Xabi Alonso himself said as much without saying it during his presentation on Monday: “Did I ask for a midfielder? Our duty is to always want to improve. Therefore, since I became coach of Madrid, I want to have this communication and vision with the club to agree on how we want to improve. The squad is very good and I want to start working with them. I arrive eager to work as a team and to be able to improve,” he said.
Real Madrid is looking for a midfielder… and Stiller is gaining ground
The need for a midfielder is something that Real Madrid has been dragging along since Toni Kroos’ departure last summer. The German’s absence led to a clear drop in performance in a midfield that was not circulating the ball and was also leaking defensively. No one has managed to fill the gap he left on a consistent basis.
Camavinga has had some bright moments in a season marked by inconsistency and injuries; Ceballos was performing at a high level until an injury forced him to stop and he has not had time to get back into rhythm and be the same player; Tchouaméni and Fede Valverde have spent the season putting out fires in other positions; while Modric, still has magic in his boots, but his 39 years of age have not allowed him to play many minutes.
With this scenario, Real Madrid has been scouting the market for months and focusing on names such as Florian Wirtz, who will ultimately end up at Liverpool if they are willing to pay more than $100 million for the player; Martín Zubimendi, who, given the indecision of the white team, will head to Arsenal, which has bet more heavily on him; Enzo Fernández, Tijiani Reijnder… and so on and so forth.
In the last few hours, it has been revealed that Real Madrid has decided to bring back Nico Paz from Italian side Como to strengthen its midfield. The player’s great performances under Cesc Fábregas, coupled with the fact that he is very much to Xabi Alonso’s liking, have led the Whites to activate the buy-back option for €8 million.
He may not be the only one to arrive in midfield, as in recent hours the name of Angelo Stiller has been gaining momentum. He comes highly recommended by Toni Kroos, and a teammate gave a nod to Real Madrid by saying “Hala Madrid!” when the player’s future was mentioned. He has a great ability to find space on the field to distribute the ball with ease. In addition, he has another quality that the Whites have been lacking: defensive commitment.
A ‘dark horse’ is added to Real Madrid’s agenda
Rafa Alkorta, speaking on Cadena SER’s El Larguero, added a name that he finds surprising that has not been mentioned in connection with the Whites: “He is a technically very good player that none of us have mentioned… for Real Madrid.” He is referring to a midfielder who has played under Xabi Alonso at Leverkusen: Aleix García.
“He is an international player and a very good ball player. He is very versatile in midfield and he himself has said that he has gone from being a ‘box-to-box’ player to being more of a holding midfielder. He’s a very good midfielder,“ said Alkorta, adding that Aleix Garcia himself didn’t understand it: ”Eh? What?“ ”We’d have to have a conversation. When he called me to go to Leverkusen, he convinced me, that’s all I can say,” he said.