Real Madrid Faces Defensive Crisis and Academy Exodus Ahead of La Liga Season
Real Madrid will walk into the new La Liga season with a familiar glow of expectation – and a very real problem at the heart of their defence.
Jose Mourinho has just three fit senior centre-backs for the opening game against Espanyol. That is not a rotation plan. That is an emergency.
Centre-back crisis before a ball is kicked
The numbers look solid on paper: five recognised centre-backs in the first-team squad. The reality is very different.
Eder Militao is still working his way back from the long-term injury issues that wrecked his previous campaign. Raul Asencio, pencilled in as another option, has been ruled out for around six weeks after picking up a thigh injury in pre-season.
Strip those two away and Mourinho is left with Antonio Rudiger, Dean Huijsen and new signing Ibrahima Konate as his only senior options in central defence for the league opener.
No margin for error. No margin for rest.
The immediate spotlight falls on Konate. The summer arrival still has a small window to sharpen his fitness, with two weeks and a pre-season friendly against Schalke remaining before the competitive action begins. Madrid need him ready from day one, not easing his way into the rhythm.
Huijsen, by contrast, already knows what it means to carry responsibility. A minor muscle issue kept him out of Real Madrid’s first official match of the season, but last year he was the club’s most-used centre-back. Now he may be asked to anchor the back line from the very start, again.
Rudiger completes Mourinho’s slender senior trio. The German defender also endured knee problems last season, yet he has stepped back into action in recent weeks, playing 45 minutes against Ferencváros before starting against Deportivo. His experience suddenly looks indispensable.
For the opening phase of the campaign, Mourinho’s defensive plan is clear: trust the three, hope for no setbacks, and pray the medical reports stay clean.
Kids step into the spotlight
The injury list has done something else too. It has kicked the academy door open a little wider.
Joan Martinez and Mario Rivas have used pre-season to force their way into Mourinho’s thoughts. Both started in Real Madrid’s first two friendly matches and have impressed enough to be treated as genuine alternatives, not just token academy call-ups.
With only three fit senior centre-backs, one of Martinez or Rivas may be required to act as the fourth central defender in the squad when the real games start. It is a huge leap, but the opportunity is real.
They are emerging, though, at a time when La Fabrica is being stripped for parts at a remarkable rate.
Academy sales head towards historic figure
Real Madrid’s academy has seen a mass exodus this summer, and the departures are still coming.
Jacobo Ortega is set to join Strasbourg in a move that would make him the most expensive sale of a Real Madrid youth player who has yet to appear for the first team. His transfer is not an isolated case; it is part of a wider strategy.
Two more highly rated youngsters are expected to follow.
According to AS, Manuel Angel and David Jimenez are next in line to leave, with both players effectively at the end of their cycle with Castilla. Interest in the pair stretches across La Liga, the second division and beyond, but no deal has yet been finalised.
Their exits feel inevitable. The club has already taken steps to protect those moves. Both players have been training separately and have been left out of Castilla’s pre-season friendlies and matchday squads, a clear decision designed to avoid any injury that might complicate negotiations.
Once Ortega’s transfer and the other academy deals are completed, Real Madrid’s income from youth sales this summer is expected to pass the €200 million mark. Inside the club, the window is being described as historic.
Two talents at a crossroads
For Manuel Angel and David Jimenez, this summer is not just about numbers on a balance sheet.
Both were central figures in Alvaro Arbeloa’s treble-winning academy generation, a group that also featured Nico Paz and Gonzalo Garcia. Both have already brushed against the first team. Now they are being pushed towards the next chapter of their careers.
Manuel Angel, a 22-year-old midfielder who joined La Fabrica in 2014, has long been considered one of the standout prospects at Valdebebas. Ambidextrous, composed, and tactically sharp, he made seven first-team appearances towards the end of last season. The priority for him now is simple: a club that can guarantee regular minutes at senior level.
David Jimenez offers a different profile. An attacking full-back with one of the most highly regarded right feet in the academy, he has been praised for his leadership and aggressive, forward-thinking style. Comparisons with Dani Carvajal have followed him for some time. He, too, featured for the first team last season, catching the eye under both Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa.
For both players, the next move will define their trajectory. Real Madrid, the players and their entourages are waiting for the right proposal, not just the first one.
So as Mourinho prepares for a season with a thin core of centre-backs and an academy in flux, one question hangs over Valdebebas: how long can a squad chase trophies at the very top while selling off so much of its future?
