Analysis: 22 players – is it enough for Real Madrid to survive in six competitions next season?

It’s been an excellent summer transfer window for Real Madrid, mainly because they finally managed to secure the signing of Kylian Mbappe after a six-year wait. Endrick Felipe has also arrived, and both players will play significant roles in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad for the upcoming 2024-25 season.

Real Madrid had also hoped to sign Leny Yoro, but last week, they officially missed out on securing his signature. Despite Los Blancos being his first choice, Yoro opted to sign for Manchester United, who had a €70m offer accepted to Lille – unsurprisingly given that he only had a year left on his contract.

There’s also been significant outgoings over the last few weeks. Toni Kroos (retired) and Nacho Fernandez (Al-Qadsiah) both left at the end of their contracts, while Joselu Mato headed to Qatar for the next stage of his career. Rafa Marin, who had been a possible candidate to replace Nacho in the first team, was sold to Napoli for €12m.

Kepa Arrizabalaga also returned to Chelsea upon the expiry of his loan deal, and all of these departures mean that Real Madrid only have 22 first team players for next season. Furthermore, they are unlikely to add to this number. Kepa is likely to return if Andriy Lunin is sold, but that would not increase the squad size.

It must be remembered that Real Madrid are playing in six competitions during the upcoming season: La Liga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Champions League and Club World Cup. 70+ matches could end up being played by Ancelotti’s charges, and with injuries also being likely to contend with, it’s a major risk to have such a small squad size.

Central defence is the obvious place where Real Madrid can make an addition. Currently, they have four senior options: Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao, David Alaba (who is injured until October/November) and Jesus Vallejo (who has barely played for the last year on loan at relegated Granada). Aurelien Tchouameni can also be utilised there, but it’s not a position where he is comfortable.

Real Madrid would only consider a centre-back signing if a low-cost market opportunity arose, but the likelihood is that one will surely be necessary. They would surely need to get very lucky with injuries (something that didn’t happen last season) in order to survive with the current squad size.

It’s understandable for Florentino Perez to not be reactive to the Yoro snub, but it’s a big risk to leave Ancelotti with so few options for next season. Just because it worked overall during the 2023-24 campaign, does not mean that lightning will strike twice for Real Madrid.

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