Severely injured and out for the rest of the season, Eder Militao has put Real Madrid in a difficult position. While Florentino Pérez’s club has a golden opportunity to bring in an emergency replacement immediately, the management has made a surprising decision.
Injuries just won’t leave Real Madrid alone this season. As happened last season, when several players tore their cruciate ligaments, two key players in Carlo Ancelotti’s line-up have just been ruled out for the remainder of the season. After Dani Carvajal, it’s the unfortunate Eder Militao who returns to the medical room for the next nine months. Injured against Osasuna in La Liga this Saturday (Real’s 4-0 victory), the Brazilian centre-back leaves Antonio Rudiger as the only starting player from the first team available to see out the rest of the matches in this first part of the season.
The emergency transfer that Real Madrid doesn’t want
In the wake of Militao’s serious injury, Real Madrid is on high alert. Just as Barça, who lost ter Stegen a few weeks ago and thus used the emergency signing rule to bring in the Polish goalkeeper Szczęsny on a free, Florentino Pérez also has the option to sign a free agent defender now who could play right away. And as Diario AS points out, Real’s leadership, who could bring back Sergio Ramos, currently without a club and seeking one last challenge before retirement, is not inclined to seize the opportunity.
Indeed, due to the strained relationship that has existed between the 38-year-old veteran and Real Madrid’s president since his departure from the club in 2021, the club appears intent on holding out until January to make moves on the transfer market. For most fans and club watchers, this decision seems utterly irrational and will only harm the team. For weeks now, Real’s struggles to defend properly have become increasingly evident. And now, with Lucas Vazquez – the only starting player able to hold down the right side of defence – also sidelined for a month, combined with Militao’s absence for the season, an urgent signing is necessary.
With the points gap with Barça in La Liga and crucial Champions League matches on the horizon, notably the clash against Liverpool in around two weeks followed by Atalanta Bergamo, Carlo Ancelotti can’t afford to take risks by relying solely on Antonio Rudiger, who has also shown signs of fatigue recently. Although Raul Asensio, Jesus Vallejo, and others from the reserves could step in to help with defence, it would be better to bring in an experienced defender right now rather than waiting until January to scout the transfer market.
In any case, we’ll see whether the management remains firm in their stance of avoiding an urgent signing right now, especially as La Liga would have no objections to it.
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