Real Madrid held an interest in World Cup-winning Premier League defender last summer | OneFootball

Real Madrid’s struggles at centre-back this season are well documented as Carlo Ancelotti is struggling to even put up a starting defensive pairing four games into the season.

With Eder Militao injured and David Alaba still far from a return to the field, the manager is faced with a situation where Antonio Rudiger is his only available natural established centre-back option who he counts on for the game against Real Sociedad.

The biggest reason behind Los Blancos’ deficiency in the department is the failed transfer of Leny Yoro who was the team’s top transfer target for months. He was, however, not the only defender Real Madrid attempted to sign as revealed in a recent report.

The Tottenham operation

As revealed in an update by Gaston Edul, Real Madrid were interested in Tottenham Hotspur’s star defender and World Cup winner Cristian Romero.

In fact, Manchester United and PSG were also in the race with Los Blancos.

Cristian Romero was in demand this past summer. (Photo by Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)

Tottenham, though, refused to part ways with the player and conveyed that he was an integral part of Ange Postecoglou’s plans and thus did not even put a price on him, let alone negotiate.

Romero is thus continuing to ply his trade in England but his future at the club is still uncertain. With only two years remaining on his contract next summer, he will have offers once more and it remains to be seen if Spurs’ stance changes.

As it stands, Ancelotti will likely deploy outcast Jesus Vallejo in defence against the Basque side this weekend.

Dani Carvajal has also emerged as a serious candidate to step into the role despite not being a natural centre-back.

A third option is Aurelien Tchouameni if the Frenchman recovers in time for the game and the manager finds a replacement to deploy in the pivot position. Needless to say, Ancelotti has big decisions to make.