Mastantuono makes it easier for Real Madrid to remain active in the transfer market

Real Madrid made the protocol presentation of its new signing, Franco Mastantuono, this Thursday (August 14). The player arrived from River Plate in exchange for 63 million euros for the next six seasons (until 2031).

But beyond the signing of the player, precisely on the day he turns 18, what is striking is the move made by the 'Casa Blanca' to continue having a place available.

The right winger will play the 2025/26 season with a subsidiary team card. Thus, if the new '30' had been registered with a first team quota, Madrid would have completed the 25 places available, which would prevent them from making new additions during this market, unless there is an exit in the squad. 

However, as of today, no movement is expected in the departures section, but the white club wants to reinforce the defensive zone and already has a great objective.

Konaté, real target for Madrid: Will the card be for the Frenchman?

In this context, Ibrahima Konaté and the Madrid team have been flirting with the possibility of joining their paths for a large part of the summer market. However, the main drawback is that the French defender has one year of contract ahead with Liverpool.

The 26-year-old player has a value of 60 million euros, according to Transfermarkt. However, the Anfield team is trying to convince him to renew, but so far he would only have received negative responses from the '5'.

Faced with this scenario, the 'red' team wants to get at least 40 'kilos' for Konaté, but Madrid would not be willing to reach that figure and, if they offer an amount, it would be around 25 M€.

Liverpool wants to prevent Konaté from leaving for free; therefore, they would not mind trying to negotiate the departure of the '5', who would already have an agreement with the 'merengues' to arrive for free next summer. 

Mastantuono, a signing thinking about Barça

The incorporation of Franco Mastantuono seems to be an attempt by Madrid to try to counteract the impact that FC Barcelona is having after the 2024/25 season, where they were crowned champions of LaLiga, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup.

In addition to this, the emergence of Lamine Yamal, also just 18 years old, is causing the 'Casa Blanca' to constantly seek reinforcements that can counteract what has been done by the Catalan team.

Although it was foreseeable that Madrid would go out into the summer transfer market, their movements are making it clear that they cannot afford another campaign like the last one, in which they also lost all the classics.