Julen Lopetegui and Real Madrid aren’t in the best shape right now, with the club like Barcelona struggling to find their footing after a good start in the La Liga.
To say Real Madrid are struggling at the moment, would be a massive understatement. They cannot score a goal to save their lives, with the Los Blancos only scoring 1 in their last five games, which includes three losses, one draw and one win. To make things even worse, they’ve gone on to concede a five goals, with Sevilla putting three past them. This has lead the Real Madrid board and president Florentino Perez changing their stance and thus opting to target a replacement for Sergio Ramos.
The Spaniard has been Real Madrid’s rock ever since his debut for the club and while he has contributed to more than his fair share of goals, this season has seen things change a little. Under Lopetegui, Ramos has taken on more leadership and has also taken over penalty duties after Cristiano Ronaldo left. But despite that Real Madrid lack defensive depth.
Other than Ramos, the Los Blancos have World Cup winner Raphael Varane who partners the Spaniard in the Real Madrid backline. However, their replacements only sees Nacho Fernandez and youngster` Jesus Vallejo as potential options, which has caused Lopetegui a few problems. However, according to reports from Marca, the club plans to change that soon, targeting players like Marquinhos, Atletico Madrid stars Lucas Hernandez and Jose Maria Gimenez and of course forever linked Samuel Umtiti.
But not only that, the report further adds that the club have also added Corinthians’ Leo Santos and Espanyol’s Mario Hermoso as cheaper and younger alternatives. This would not only give the club defensive depth but also allow them to spend more on the goal scoring Galactico they want and desperately need.
Author’s take:
While replacing Cristiano Ronaldo is one of Real Madrid’s top task at the moment, they also need to focus on the fact that Sergio Ramos isn’t getting any younger. The Spaniard is 32 years old and will only grow older as time passes by, and given the sheer lack of replacements, the option of signing a younger center back over a more experienced one, could hurt them in the long run.
