Real Madrid is expected to be active in the winter transfer window, which will open in January 2024. The top target is a central defender to replace David Alaba – who has suffered a ligament injury and is out for the rest of the season.
At the same time, Los Blancos is also resolving other important personnel issues, such as renewing coach Carlo Ancelotti or recruiting Alphonso Davies or even Kylian Mbappe.
However, according to AS, Real Madrid will not rush to activate the blockbuster named Mbappe this January. Instead, the Royal Spanish team is looking to recruit… a new goalkeeper.
President Florentino Pérez’s team has begun to realize that it needs to prepare for the future, specifically looking for Thibaut Courtois’s successor. The 32-year-old goalkeeper missed the entire season due to injury, forcing Real Madrid to borrow Kepa from Chelsea to replace him.
This Real Madrid also clearly determined that Chelsea’s goalkeeper is only a fire extinguisher because he is only 2 years younger than Courtois, not suitable for the club’s long-term strategy. Meanwhile, reserve goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, 24 years old, does not have the trust of the Los Blancos coaching staff.
Therefore, Real Madrid has taken the time to research the goalkeeper market right now. The goal is that a potential young name will initially be on reserve to learn experience from Courtois, before moving on to compete and replace the senior in 2026, when the Belgian goalkeeper’s contract will expire.
One of the goalkeepers that Los Blancos is keeping an eye on is Randall Rodríguez (20 years old), a Uruguayan goalkeeper playing for Penarol.