Real Madrid have business to tie up next season, but they are already thinking about their next steps for the following summer. Their policy of signing top players as free agents again has Liverpool in their crosshairs.
Los Blancos ended up paying €10m for the signature of Trent Alexander-Arnold, but Liverpool were forced into a situation where they had no choice but to give up the England international, who had agreed a deal with Real Madrid. There have also been consistent links to centre-back Ibrahima Konate, who is out of contract next summer, and he tops their shortlist of players with deals running down.
The 26-year-old has so far rejected attempts from Liverpool to renew his deal, and according to Sky, as quoted by Diario AS, Konate has given the green light to Real Madrid to advance in negotiations with his agent. Los Blancos now know that Konate is keen on a move to the Spanish capital, having made it clear to ‘several’ intermediaries.
Real Madrid have already begun a changing of the guard at the back, with the emergence of Raul Asencio, and the €60m signing of Dean Huijsen. Veteran defender David Alaba is not in Real Madrid’s plans going forward, and Antonio Rudiger is out of contract next season. There are also doubts about how Eder Militao will recover from multiple cruciate ligament injuries, meaning Los Blancos are keen to ensure they are well covered beyond next summer.
In theory, Konate is arriving at the prime of his career. He would be 27 by the time he arrives at Real Madrid, if that did happen. That would leave Xabi Alonso with two defenders in their late twenties (Militao and Konate) and two younger options developing (Asencio and Huijsen). Ferland Mendy and Dani Carvajal are also into their thirties, and probably in the final years of their Real Madrid careers.
