The injury to Dani Carvajal, which has brought an early end to his season, has exacerbated the need for a new right-back at Real Madrid.
While Lucas Vazquez has been asked to fill in, the game against Barcelona laid bare his limitations in the role.
Los Blancos, for their part, are ready to back the veteran Spaniard and also promote talented academy ace Jesus Fortea to the senior setup to provide cover.
At the same time, though, it is not completely ruled out that a new signing could arrive, with Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold being the priority.
The idea has always been to sign the England star for free when his contract expires at the end of the season but the possibility of a January move has been considered given the circumstances.
Florentino Perez does not want to spend
However, according to Defensa Central, Liverpool would seek a transfer fee of around €50 million to sell Alexander-Arnold in the January transfer window, something that Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is unwilling to pay.
While the Reds are working to tie the 26-year-old down to a new contract, they are aware that time is running out. And should the possibility of cashing in on him in the winter emerge over losing him for free in the summer, they might take it up for €50 million.
The Real Madrid president though believes that the figure is too steep for a player who will be available for free six months from January.
“In six months the player will be free… it is too much money,” is the prevailing sentiment at the club after learning of the Premier League team’s demands.
Therefore, it seems almost impossible that the transfer could be brought forward, and Ancelotti & co. are likely to continue with Vazquez, Fortea, and potentially even Eder Militao.