The Serie A Center-Back Who Charms Juni Calafat, Ancelotti Would Have Received Him

Real Madrid faces a complicated situation to manage for the remainder of the 24/25 season. Everything seemed to start well, but Toni Kroos's retirement and the accumulated absences in the heart of the white defense are affecting the club more than it seems. Carlo Ancelotti's coaching staff, immersed in a "even more difficult" situation with the shortage of center-backs, has been requesting urgent reinforcements in that area of the squad for more than half a year.

From the Valdebebas offices, they have taken note of these requests, but they would only respond during the next summer market of 2025. That means the Italian strategist will have to navigate the final stretch of competitions like LaLiga, Champions League, and Copa del Rey with, for now, only one center-back. Because Raúl Asencio, promoted from Real Madrid Castilla, remains untouchable in a line that has three injured players and one player who is not in the coach's plans.

Not counting on Jesús Vallejo, whose contract ends this season, Carlo Ancelotti has Éder Militão, Antonio Rüdiger, and David Alaba injured. In this situation, he would have decided to place Aurélien Tchouaméni as an emergency center-back to mitigate these absences until the German "22" is fit to return to sports discipline.

But these dynamics wouldn't be enough to silence the constant rumors placing several center-backs in Santiago Bernabéu locker room from and for the next season. Besides the signing of Trent Alexander-Arnold as a free agent, which would solve the right-back dilemma, the rumor mill places players like William Saliba on Florentino Pérez's agenda.

Many Answers to the Same Question

Journalists like Fabrizio Romano reveal that the "2" gunner has become the main target of the merengue squad for the upcoming summer market that is approaching rapidly. But he wouldn't be the only footballer under consideration in the white hierarchy: the reports on Dean Huijsen prove it. Another promising center-back, in this case located in Serie A, strongly attracts Juni Calafat's attention.

The name of Sam Beukema hasn't gone unnoticed by Carlo Ancelotti either. The Reggiolo coach closely follows the current events of Calcio, occasionally leaving some signing suggestions that could fit into the squad he himself manages. The 26-year-old Dutch footballer from Bologna has established himself as one of the key center-backs of the rossoblù squad since Riccardo Calafiori's departure to English Arsenal.

Leaving two assists in his 30 matches played to date, Sam Beukema not only attracts the interest of the club based in the Spanish capital regarding his signing. Information handled by several media outlets in Italy indicates hypothetical approaches from Juventus, Atlético de Madrid, or Inter Milan for the Dutch defender. His signing, however, will present many difficulties: Bologna doesn't want to part with another of its key center-backs.

If they are open to doing so, they will demand a significant sum of money. Sam Beukema has a market value of 22 million euros and a contract that ends in mid-2027. Considering he has been in Bologna for less than a year, the transalpine bosses could request 50 million euros for this defender who is liked by Carlo Ancelotti and Juni Calafat.