Real Madrid have reached an agreement in principle to sign Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth for £50 million ($60m) and have stepped up the negotiations with Benfica to also secure the arrival of full-back Álvaro Carreras before the Club World Cup, multiple sources have told ESPN.
Madrid accelerated negotiations for Huijsen after their defeat to Barcelona and almost immediately got the green light from the player even though there were some other clubs from the Premier League monitoring the situation.
Sources told ESPN that all that remains is for the lawyers to give the final go-ahead for the Spain international to become a new Real Madrid player on a five-year contract.
Once the player agreed to the move the signing was seen as a formality, as Madrid will pay his £50m transfer clause. The club explored the possibility of including players in the deal to lower the total cost, but Bournemouth rejected that option.
ESPN reported in March that Madrid had the 20-year-old defender as a priority to strengthen their defence for next season.
Madrid were close to signing Huijsen when he was playing in the youth ranks at Malaga. However, the player’s family preferred to sign for Juventus to continue his development in Italian football.
After a loan spell at Roma, Bournemouth signed the player on a permanent basis. The Cherries have not had him for even a year. Huijsen’s rise has seen him called up to the Spain men’s national team.
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Madrid, as reported by ESPN, are trying to close the signing of Trent Alexander-Arnold as soon as possible so that the England international can arrive in time for the Club World Cup and will do the same with Huijsen.
At the same time, the club has also accelerated negotiations to sign former Manchester United full-back Carreras in a deal that would also cost around €60m ($67m).
ESPN reported earlier this week that the Galician was the favourite to reinforce the left-back position and the sources consulted are now optimistic that the LaLiga giants will also end up getting their man. As with Alexander-Arnold and Huijsen, the idea is for the Spaniard to arrive before the Club World Cup alongside manager Xabi Alonso and, in this case, he would sign a six-year contract.
Carreras is 22 years old and came up through the Madrid youth system, where he played alongside Raúl Asencio, among others. He is highly regarded by Alonso.
