Real Madrid have turned their attention towards Bayer Leverkusen and Germany centre-back Jonathan Tah to shore up their defence.
Tah, who’s 28 years old, is contracted with the reigning Bundesliga champions until June 30, 2025. Madrid want to take advantage of the fact that Leverkusen could lose their defensive talisman for free in the summer, and sign him for a reduced fee this winter.
Meanwhile, the club have decided that Sergio Ramos is not an option.
The legendary defender left Madrid at the end of the 2020-21 campaign and spent two seasons at PSG, before making a shock return to his first club, Sevilla, in 2023.
Now, he finds himself without a club. And Madrid, without much depth in defence. However, Ramos won’t be returning to the Spanish capital.
Club president Florentino Perez and his fellow board members are convinced that the Ramos chapter is closed for good, with no route for a reunion. Instead, the club have turned their focus towards signing one of Spanish international Aymeric Laporte (Al-Nassr), Leipzig’s 21-year-old Lukeba, or Leverkusen’s Tah.
Eder Militao’s second ACL injury in two seasons — which he suffered in the team’s 4-0 thrashing of Osasuna last weekend — has further compounded Madrid’s issues at the back.
Los Blancos are desperate to sign a defender in the upcoming winter transfer window, but they know it won’t be easy to sign either Laporte or Lukeba. The club does not want to spend around €20 million on a player who’ll turn 31 in May. As for Lukeba, he has a contract until 2029 with Leipzig. Signing a player by spending an exorbitant amount in January has been against Madrid’s transfer policy, and they are well aware that Leipzig won’t let the French centre-back go for cheap.
