Real Madrid Dealt Huge Blow in Pursuit of Summer Free Transfer—Report

Madrid’s quest to fill a problem position will have to be reimagined after a difficult fee months in the transfer market.

Xabi Alonso was heavily linked with a very interesting defensive prospect. / Diego Souto/Getty Images

Dayot Upamecano is reportedly closing in on a new contract at Bayern Munich, thereby ruling out Real Madrid’s chances of snapping up the French center back on a free transfer this summer.

The 27-year-old has entered the final six months of his deal in Bavaria, opening him up to offers of pre-contract agreements from overseas clubs ahead of a free transfer this summer. Real Madrid had been repeatedly linked with a move for Upamecano, continuing their habit of picking up experienced players without paying a fee to another club.

This was the method that saw Kylian Mbappé, Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba all join the club in recent years. Trent Alexander-Arnold was heading for the same cost-saving avenue before Madrid paid Liverpool €10 million ($11.7 million) to accelerate the deal in time for last summer’s Club World Cup.

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It appears as though Upamecano will not be following in those footsteps. BILD report that the France international is “on the verge” of penning fresh terms with Bayern. Signing bonuses, salary and a release clause have been agreed in a deal which is thought to earn him €20 million per year.

“I believe he should sign what he has now, because it won’t get any better,” Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen recently told a Bayern fan group.

“We’ve made him an exceptionally good offer because he’s been playing very well for the past year and a half. He's certainly one of the best center backs in the world.”

Dayot Upamecano is out of contract at the end of this season. / Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images

When discussing the topic in public, Upamecano has retained a calm surface. “There’s no pressure on me,” he told assembled media after playing in Bayern’s 5–0 friendly thumping of RB Salzburg this week.

“I’m talking to Max [Eberl, Bayern’s board member for sport] and Christoph [Freund, sporting director], everything’s good. I have a good relationship with everyone. I hope there will be a solution soon, but I don’t have a deadline. I’m very happy to play for this great club and I’m concentrating on my performance on the pitch; I’ll leave the rest to my agent.”

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Real Madrid’s Alternatives to Dayot Upcamecano

Dortmund’s defender has long been on Madrid’s radar. / Gabriel Calvino Alonso/BSR Agency/Getty Images

As recently as the end of November, Real Madrid’s top three center back targets were widely considered to be; Upamecano, Ibrahima Konaté and Marc Guéhi. Now all may very well be off the table.

Much like his compatriot, Konaté will be a free agent this summer yet reports claim that Madrid have ended their interest in the under-performing Liverpool defender, who still hasn’t agreed terms with the Premier League champions. Guéhi was billed as the next most obvious option considering his continued level of performance even while heading towards the end of his Crystal Palace deal, yet it appears as though Manchester City have won that race.

Borussia Dortmund’s Nico Schlotterbeck doesn’t fit the brief of being a free agent in the summer, but he will only have 12 months left on his current deal by the end of this season. The experienced left footer has regularly been handed the captain’s armband this term, returning from a meniscus tear over the summer to re-establish himself as a mainstay in the backline.

Madrid could alternatively turn in-house. The club have not yet settled on what do to with Antonio Rüdiger, who will be out of contract this year. There is no future in Madrid for David Alaba, but his battling German colleague could yet earn a reprieve over the second half of the season.

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