Rebuilding Madrid, One Pass at a Time - The Transfers, Rumors & Lies Thread

No Bobby, as things currently stand, he's not fine – "free" or otherwise.

The only period where he wasn't chilling at the Kop clinic was the last 6 months. His last brutal injury was towards the 2nd half of last season. This isn't the distant past and there is a clear trend here which should be a red flag for the club.

His regular performance dips are also alarming..but hey he's free, right?

While Liverpool will get nothing, Konaté gets a handsome wage and signing bonus. Bad performances, bad injuries – both likely given his record – and he's our new mascot holding up chairs when we win while the club try to get rid of him every summer until 2031.

Another Alaba is the last thing we need.

If he manages to stay healthy this season and perform well, then we can relook at Konaté as a potentially good signing.

 

Not reading all that, drama queen.

Konate is fine, likely to be a Real Madrid player so just deal with it. Simple as that.

 

I can't expect anything more from a child raising a child.

 

I don’t care what ChatGPT has told you or what your agenda is with the waffle you’re typing.


Facts are he’s been healthy since December 2024, helped Liverpool to a dominant PL title win, went deep in the CL, featured for France in the later stages of the Nations league and WCQ.


If you like it or not, he’s likely to be a Real Madrid player next summer.


Quit raging and embrace it.

 

Looking ahead, Huijsen is both the present and the future of Real Madrid's defense. The key question now is: who will be his long-term partner at center-back?

Militão had initially been a concern for me, especially given his injury history. However, since his return, he's proven himself to be a reliable starter. That said, the fact that he’s suffered two ACL injuries still lingers in the back of my mind.

Recently, I said Asencio had the worst performance by a Real Madrid player since Woodgate's infamous debut. But since then, he’s turned things around and has become a dependable option in the defensive rotation. If Militão and Asensio maintain this level, I’d be content with both as our second or third-choice defenders beyond this season.

That said, we still need to bring in another center-back — someone who can fit anywhere from second to fourth in the pecking order.

I’ve been a fan of Konaté ever since he was first linked with us. However, it looks like we’d have to offer him a significant salary — not just because he would arrive on a free transfer, but also due to the bidding war with Liverpool. The question is: does it make sense to offer such a high wage to someone who might be our fourth-choice defender?

Personally, I trust our scouting department to find a high-potential, relatively unknown center-back — perhaps from the Portuguese league — who can fill that role without inflating the wage structure.

 

You should've gotten a clue that he is trapped in his own echo chamber the monent he responded why bother looking further into his injury history to me. Thats why I stopped responding to him.

We don't need Alaba 2.0

 

That's a pretty disingenuous way to frame "less than one year ago", though I agree he is fine on a free if there are no particularly great CB options we are turning down for him. Missing 111(!) games through injury by age 26, spread over 13 injuries, is unquestionably reason for concern though. What is always a problem with these discussions and judgments is that we have no idea what is signing bonus and wages will be. Obviously his injury record will unquestionably factor into the negotiations.

 

The CB market is very similar to the FW/Striker market.

Lots of experienced players who come at a premium of wages and transfer fee or overpay for potential.

The days of finding a Varane for 10m or Militao for 30m are gone.

 

You can never say that -- Huijsen for 20ME and Pacho for 40ME both last summer are fairly comparable to those two signings given inflation.

 

We paid 50 million for Militao btw in 2019. Money well spent despite the injuries.

 

You’re right, did we sign Pepe for 30m? I know we bought a CB for 30m…. My memory is getting spotty!

 

That's correct, all the way back in 2007, 18 years ago.

 

So, 50m adjusted for inflation.

 

Pepe was on the expensive side.

Still worth the money tho.

 

Pepe would be north of 90ME today

 

I don't subscribe to the illusion propagated by the club that the only "good" and potentially available defenders in the entire continent are the French NT CBs. We spread the same bull during the Yoro days.

These names make more sense financially then they do from a sporting perspective. The board gets a high from Bosmans even if they don't end up working as well as planned.

Our recruiters need to do a better job finding CBs. Huijsen and Carreras were reportedly name picked by Xabi.

 

Sometimes this forum is like a parallel world though. I can't remember any team winning CLs with both starting CBs being 19-20.

The experience of Alaba, Rudiger, Konate, Saliba etc have been key to winning titles including CLs. OK not Saliba but he plays for Arsenal.

If a pundit says Yoro or Jacquet will be better signings for a team aiming to win CLs than Konate or Saliba, he will be trolled to death.

 

By the time these undiscovered “gems” are good enough for us, all of the other clubs are lined up as well.

The amount of data and analytics that has been used in the last 5 years for player scouting has leveled the playing field.

Husjien was a cast off from Juventus because he couldn’t get any minutes but someone there saw him as a prospect. But once he found form at Bournemouth everyone could see how good he was.

Carreras was the same thing, United scooped him up, was so dysfunctional and sent him back to Benfica. Then he was able to show how good he was.

 

Anyone following Lukeba?

 

Not to pile on, but we had a certain value on Yoro. He eventually went to United for 70m.

We valued Husijen at 70m, and so far it seems like we made right call.

I don’t think anyone here who is posting on RMBS is capable of evaluating talent to the level of the club.

For the last decade, we’ve had more wins than losses in that area. We can all debate need/upgrade on a season to season basis but the club has a multi year strategy/structure.

When we ID a player that is “can’t miss” we go all in and usually get them. Bellingham, Tchoumeni, Husijen, Carreras…

 

Another obvious point is that players like Yoro and Jacquet play for relatively large footballing institutions from a global perspective like Lille and Rennes. Our club scouts are surely very well aware and evaluating these these types of players. It's not like they are not seeing these players because they're not scouring leagues in Poland or Peru.

 

Utd is a dumpster fire; it's where players go to effectively dent their careers. Nearly all their Persona non grata somehow do much better the moment they leave: McTominay, Højlund, Anthony, heck even Onana and Rashford are finding some form.

Huijsen existed in the same market where we were told "nobody convinces the club", Mourinho was singing his praises back in January 2024 saying: “He has 10 minutes of football in Serie A, but he's one of the biggest talents in football. He will be a great player in the future.”

All I am saying is that there must be better CBs than Konaté and Upam – they simply aren't great. But "free", French, and play for a top club? Instant boner stuff for JAS.

 

Say we sign Jacquet over Konate. Just a yellow card suspension for Militao would mean a Huijsen - Jacquet starting line up in a big CL KO game.

Those two would have to play at historical level to help us win a tie against PSG etc. Meanwhile Konate played CL final in his first season at Pool and has plethora of experience playing in high pressure games for 4 seasons. His developing phase was at RB while playing in CL.

 

Ideally we have 2 veterans and 2 developmental prospects at CB at the same time.

2 veterans are the starting ones, while we rotate the other 2 in.

Right now, we’re basically inverted;

1 - unproven in big game player - but an undisputed starter in Husjien.

1 - Veteran - Militao is coming back from 2 acls, not 100% dependable.

1 - Aging Veteran - Rudiger, probably best football is past him. Injured

1 - Developing player - Ascensio

1 - Veteran Mascot - Alaba

We need to bring in 2 CBs next summer; one veteran and one developmental player.

Assuming that Rudiger and Alaba are gone.

 

Jacquet is one for the future, I don't think anyone is calling for him to start next season. In fact, I'd rather we place bets on Joan Martinez before someone like Jacquet.

Alaba's "experience" was on full display in our CL defensive hanky-panky which culminated in Courtois making a record number of impossible saves in the final.

Konate ain't it at the moment, winning the EPL last season with Liverpool doesn't instantly make him an elite defender. His defensive lapses for both club and country are well documented.

Now, if Konaté does well (and stays fit) this season, the perspective can shift completely. At least we'll have a better sample size than 9 months of good performances.

The truth is that the club isn't willing to pay top Euro for a CB.