Real Madrid Faces Defensive Challenges Ahead of La Liga Kickoff
Real Madrid hit La Liga kickoff with a defensive headache and an academy on the move. Jose Mourinho starts the season juggling problems at both ends of the club.
Mourinho’s back line thins out
Two weeks from the opening La Liga clash with Espanyol, the numbers at centre-back are brutally simple: five on the books, only three fit.
Eder Militao is still fighting his way back from the serious injury issues that wrecked his last campaign. Raul Asencio, who was expected to push for more minutes this year, has been ruled out for around six weeks after a thigh injury in pre-season. Two names wiped off Mourinho’s team sheet before a ball is kicked in the league.
That leaves Antonio Rudiger, Dean Huijsen and new signing Ibrahima Konate as the only senior central defenders available.
It tightens everything. Rotation, tactical tweaks, even the margin for error in August. Any further setback at the back, and Mourinho is into emergency territory.
Konate under the spotlight, Huijsen set for a bigger load
The spotlight now falls on Konate. The summer arrival still has a short runway to get fully up to speed: two weeks of work and a pre-season friendly against Schalke before the real stuff begins. Mourinho will want him sharp, not just available.
Alongside him, Huijsen is expected to carry a heavy load again. A minor muscle issue kept him out of the first official match of the season, but last year he was the most-used centre-back in the squad. Now, with Militao and Asencio out, he could be asked to anchor the defence from day one.
Rudiger completes the trio. The German has only just shaken off his own knee problems, easing back with 45 minutes against Ferencváros and then a start versus Deportivo. His experience is vital, but his recent injury history means Real Madrid will have to manage him carefully at a time when they can least afford to.
Three centre-backs. A long season. The maths is unforgiving.
Kids step into the frame
The injury crisis has cracked the door open for the academy again.
Joan Martinez and Mario Rivas have seized the chance in pre-season, impressing Mourinho and forcing their names into the conversation. Both started the club’s first two friendlies and have given the Portuguese coach something he badly needs in the short term: alternatives.
With only three senior centre-backs fit, one of Martinez or Rivas may effectively become the fourth central defender in the squad for the opening weeks. It is a big responsibility, but also the kind of opportunity that rarely arrives this early for academy players at Real Madrid.
While some youngsters are stepping up, many more are stepping out.
A historic academy cash-out
The exodus from Valdebebas this summer has been relentless. One talent after another has headed for the exit, and the flow is not slowing.
Jacobo Ortega is set to join Strasbourg, a move that would make him the most expensive sale of a Real Madrid youth player who has never featured for the first team. His transfer is part of a wider strategy: turn academy development into serious revenue.
And Ortega is not expected to be the final major departure.
Manuel Angel and David Jimenez next in line
According to AS, Manuel Angel and David Jimenez are the next two academy products poised to leave. Both have effectively reached the end of their cycle with Castilla.
Interest in the pair is broad – from the top flight to the second division and beyond – but nothing has yet advanced to the point of a completed deal. Even so, the club is acting as if their exits are only a matter of time.
Both players have been training separately and kept out of Castilla’s pre-season friendlies and matchday squads, a clear decision to protect them from injuries that could derail potential transfers.
Once Ortega’s sale and other outgoing deals are finalised, Real Madrid’s academy income this summer is expected to surpass €200 million. Internally, the club views it as a historic window for La Fabrica.
Two standouts from a golden generation
These are not fringe names.
Manuel Angel and David Jimenez were central figures in Alvaro Arbeloa’s treble-winning academy side, a group that also featured Nico Paz and Gonzalo Garcia.
Manuel Angel, a 22-year-old midfielder who joined La Fabrica in 2014, has long been considered one of the most refined talents at Valdebebas. Ambidextrous, composed and tactically sharp, he even broke into the first team towards the end of last season, making seven appearances. The next step is clear: he needs a club that will give him consistent minutes at senior level.
Jimenez offers a different profile but the same level of promise. An attacking full-back with a standout right foot, he has drawn stylistic comparisons to Dani Carvajal for his leadership and aggressive, forward-thinking game. He, too, featured for the first team last season, impressing under both Xabi Alonso and Arbeloa.
Now both wait. So do Real Madrid and their agents, all aligned on one objective: finding the right destination, the right project, the right stage.
As Mourinho prepares to start a season with a thin defence and a reshaped academy, one question hangs over Valdebebas: how long can a club sell so much of its future and still expect its production line to keep delivering at this rate?
