In June, Álvaro Carreras was a name on a list. Marc Cucurella had just signed, Real Madrid suddenly had four left-backs, and the Spaniard who cost €50 million from Benfica twelve months earlier looked like the obvious way to raise cash. Two months later, Juventus have made him their first-choice target for the position — and the answer coming out of Valdebebas is no.
According to the journalist Ekrem Konur, as reported by Bernabéu Digital and relayed by Madrid Universal, Juventus have identified Carreras as their main objective at left-back, with Rayan Aït-Nouri lined up as the alternative if they cannot get the Spaniard. Konur’s own view, per the same reports, is that a summer exit is very unlikely — which is a polite way of saying Juventus should get comfortable with the alternative.
Why Juventus are calling, and why they will be told no
The Bianconeri are rebuilding a defence after a disappointing campaign, and Bernabéu Digital note they have also shown interest in Andriy Lunin, so this is a genuine Turin shopping list rather than idle speculation. The logic of the call is sound. What has changed is the situation at the other end of it.
Carreras was sellable in June because Real Madrid had a surplus. They no longer do. Mourinho chose to keep two high-quality options at left-back rather than one, Fran García’s move to Real Betis removed the natural spare, and Ferland Mendy is now the third choice with a fitness record that nobody at the club would want to plan a season around after the run of injuries he has had. Take Carreras out of that group and Madrid are one hamstring away from a problem, in a month when the club has struggled to move anybody on at all.
The Cucurella battle Carreras has no intention of losing
The football argument is the more interesting one. Carreras arrived from Benfica last summer for a reported €50 million and had, by Madrid Universal’s reading, a positive start to life in Spain before his level dipped as the season wore on. He was not the only defender whose first year at the Bernabéu came with turbulence — the Spaniard himself later confirmed the bust-up with Antonio Rüdiger that became one of the stranger sub-plots of the campaign.
Now he has a world-class rival for the shirt, and a small window of opportunity. Cucurella joined up late after his summer with Spain at the World Cup, and his introduction to Madridistas was a strange one — he was booed by opposition supporters on his first appearance in pre-season. Carreras, meanwhile, has completed the whole of pre-season under Mourinho and stood out, providing two assists in the friendlies before the league opener.
Both reports draw the same conclusion from that: the combination of Carreras’s form and Cucurella’s late arrival puts the Spaniard in contention to start the opening rounds of LaLiga. For a player who was being valued as an asset ten weeks ago, that is a considerable recovery.
What it means for the last 11 days of the window
Nothing, in all likelihood — and that is the point. Real Madrid need departures before the deadline on 31 August, but the ones they want are at the other end of the squad list. Selling a 23-year-old left-back who has just won his place back would solve a spreadsheet problem by creating a football one, and Mourinho has already made that call once this summer.
So treat this as a compliment rather than a cliffhanger. Juventus want Álvaro Carreras because he is good enough to start for Real Madrid, which is exactly the conclusion the man picking the team appears to have reached. If the Spaniard is on the pitch at Espanyol this weekend, the story will have answered itself.
