In a major development, Fabrizio Romano reports that Real Madrid and SL Benfica are now closing in on an agreement for the transfer of Alvaro Carreras.
The 22-year-old left-back has been the Merengues priority target for the left-back position and they tried to secure his signing before the start of the FIFA Club World Cup.
However, the Portuguese giants were unwilling to play ball, leading to the deal getting pushed back.
But, with Benfica now out of the tournament, negotiations resumed between the two clubs and have now reached advanced stages.
Indeed, an agreement is understood to be close between Real Madrid and Benfica, who had so far been insistent on the Merengues paying the defender’s full €50 million release clause.
As such, the deal can be considered as good as closed once the FIFA Club World Cup comes to an end in the coming days.
Personal terms were never an issue as Carreras had his heart set on a return to Real Madrid, having left the club academy back in 2020 for Manchester United.
An agreement with the player, thus, had been reached in June itself. Now, with terms of the deal set to be finalised between the two clubs, everything suggests that Carreras will become Real Madrid’s fourth signing of the summer.
He will follow Dean Huijsen, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Franco Mastantuono at the Santiago Bernabeu as the Spanish capital giants are sparing no efforts to build a strong team for new manager Xabi Alonso.