Real Madrid suffered a huge injury blow over the weekend, with Dani Carvajal rupturing his cruciate ligament in a win over Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The injury means that the 32-year-old will miss the remainder of the 2024/25 season and, despite the right-back being handed a new contract, potentially bring his time as one of the world’s best full-backs to an end.
With that in mind, we at 90min have decided to draw up a list of potential replacements for Carvajal at Real Madrid.
It looks like Lucas Vazquez will be given an extended run at right-back following Carvajal’s injury, however if January comes around and the Spaniard isn’t performing well, then Madrid could be tempted to dip into the market for a replacement.
A relatively cheap option would be Sevilla’s Juanlu Sanchez. The 21-year-old reportedly has a fairly reasonable £21m release clause attached to his contract at Sevilla and, given his age and impressive performances since breaking into the line-up at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, he could be a shrewd January acquisition for Los Blancos.
If Real Madrid are keen to spend a bit (a lot) more money on a new right-back, then Tottenham Hotspur’s Pedro Porro may be of interest.
The Spaniard has gone from strength to strength since joining the north London club back in 2023, becoming an integral member of Ange Postecoglou’s attacking Spurs side, and he’d provide Madrid with similar attacking prowess that Carvajal has on the right flank down the years.
At 25 years old, he’d be giving Madrid his best years too.
You were waiting for us to just cut the chase and get to the Trent Alexander-Arnold section, weren’t you?
The Liverpool star has been very, very, very heavily linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu once his contract expires in the summer of 2025.
And with terms yet to be agreed on a new deal at Anfield, with each passing day TAA’s move to Madrid feels more and more likely.
The right-back would be an exceptional signing for Los Blancos as he’d address both the right-back problem and the club’s midfield problem. In an inverted full-back role, Alexander-Arnold would expertly provide Madrid with a much needed creative passer in the middle of the park – something they haven’t had since Toni Kroos hung up his boots in the summer.
