{"id":1379,"date":"2026-06-04T08:55:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T08:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/?p=1379"},"modified":"2026-06-04T08:55:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T08:55:34","slug":"a-complete-overhaul-of-the-defence-and-even-more-competition-for-antonio-rudiger-real-madrid-are-reportedly-targeting-two-more-star-defenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/?p=1379","title":{"rendered":"A complete overhaul of the defence and even more competition for Antonio R\u00fcdiger? Real Madrid are reportedly targeting two more star defenders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"article-body\" data-affiliate-button-variant=\"D\">\n<div>\n<p>Reports indicate that President Florentino P\u00e9rez and Jos\u00e9 Mourinho, widely anticipated to return as manager, are keen on signing the Croatian centre-back.\u00a0Shortly before the eagerly awaited presidential election, Perez had engaged in a bidding war with challenger Enrique Riquelme over reinforcements for Real. If re-elected, Perez promised not only to bring back Mourinho but also to secure the transfer of Ibrahima Konate, who, according to consistent media reports, will join on a free transfer from Liverpool FC. <\/p>\n<p>However, the defensive makeover is not yet complete. Gvardiol&#8217;s ability to slot in at left-back is particularly notable, given the position&#8217;s struggles last term. Alvaro Carreras, signed for \u20ac50m from Benfica Lisbon at Xabi Alonso&#8217;s request, has largely underwhelmed since Alonso&#8217;s departure after only six months in charge. Ferland Mendy is sidelined for several months after another serious injury, and David Alaba is expected to depart on a free transfer.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal&#8217;s Riccardo Calafiori is also in the frame, with transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reporting that Real have already made contact. As with Gvardiol, any deal for the Italian is expected to be highly competitive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reports indicate that President Florentino P\u00e9rez and Jos\u00e9 Mourinho, widely anticipated to return as manager, are keen on signing the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-city"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racingsport.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}