Real Madrid are on the hunt for another central defender in the new year, as they deal with the effects of losing both David Alaba and Eder Militao to anterior cruciate ligament injuries. The recruitment department at Real Madrid agree that a new defender is needed, with only Nacho Fernandez and Antonio Rudiger as their fit central defenders.
Rudiger has played the vast majority of minutes this season, and with Nacho now 33 years of age, relying solely on the two veterans is a risky idea. Makeshift replacement options include Ferland Mendy, who has his own frequent injury issues, while Aurelien Tchouameni is just back from a broken metatarsal.
One of the options that has been suggested is recalling Rafa Marin from his loan deal at Alaves. The 21-year-old has started 9 of their 16 La Liga games this season, and save for one spell out of the team, has been a regular for much of the season. However Marca say that the hierarchy at Real Madrid were not altogether keen on the idea of breaking his season-long loan deal at Alaves, and he is unlikely to return in the winter window.
While Marin may feel somewhat disappointed to miss out on what is surely the clearest run to minutes in central defence at the Santiago Bernabeu in some time. However it is positive news for Alaves, who look set to retain one of their key options in defence ahead of their relegation battle in the second half of the season. They themselves have lost Aleksander Sedlar to an ACL injury, and he too is set to be out for the rest of the season.
It means Real Madrid will likely look to go into the transfer market for either a loan deal or a permanent transfer. They have five young defenders they had been tracking, but it is not yet clear whether they are willing to spend big this season on that area of the pitch.
