Juni Calafat Identifies the Best Center-Back for Quality-Price After the Leny Yoro Fiasco

Last summer Real Madrid went for the signing of Leny Yoro to strengthen the defense. They considered him the greatest talent of his generation in his position and reached an agreement. However, Jorge Mendes managed to get him to accept Manchester United's offer, which was more enticing.

That left Real Madrid without their preferred center-back and forced them to look for alternatives in the market. Juni Calafat has been the one in charge of scouting for the best talents. After City signed Vitor Reis, they are clear about who the number one candidate is.

Calafat has pointed to Castello Lukeba as the best center-back in terms of quality-price ratio they can sign. His performance at Leipzig has been very impressive, and he is still young, which fits into Madrid's plans. Moreover, it seems that the Frenchman would be willing to make the leap.

He believes that at 22 years old, he is at the perfect moment to move to a bigger team. However, Leipzig will not let him go easily as he is under contract until 2029. His price could be around 90 million euros, and Real Madrid is already aware of it.

Few Alternatives in the Market and Lukeba Starts to Gain Ground

The truth is that after the failure with Leny Yoro, Real Madrid has seen the situation become complicated. There aren't many center-backs in the market that respond to a reasonable price. Those who are available don't fully convince the Whites to go for them.

One of the most liked was Saliba as he is also young and performing at a high level. However, Arsenal is going to ask for an exorbitant amount that deters the Merengues. This makes Lukeba, who would be more affordable, start to gain ground.

They are not ruling out Dean Huijsen either, who meets all the conditions. He is young, wouldn't be excessively expensive, and his performance in the Premier is a good calling card. It remains to be seen what decision they will make in the summer market.