Real Madrid end 2025 with a record-breaking Kylian Mbappé, but also with disappointing results and lack of regularity between the second half of the last season and the first half of the current 2025/26 season. And, just like last year, injuries have plagued the team, specially among defenders: Dani Carvajal will return from injury in early January 2026, Trent Alexander-Arnold may return in late January, and Eder Militao may return in February. However, many more have suffered injuries in the last weeks, likes Rudiger, Huijsen or Alaba.
Beyond the injuries, the lack of a reliable midfielder, with Xabi Alonso using the likes of Arda Guler, Jude Bellingham or Dani Ceballos with mixed results, has led many to believe that signing a player in that position is a priority. However, it did not happen one year ago in the winter market, it did not happen last summer, and it is unlikely to happen this winter market.
Historically, Real Madrid doesn't usually invest in new players in the winter. The last player the club signed in January for their main team was Brahim Díaz, in January 2019, from Manchester City. He was loaned to AC Milan the following year for three years, and returned to Real Madrid in 2023, where he helped the club win LaLiga and Champions League, although he has been mostly used as a substitute.
The last time Real Madrid invested heavily in the winter transfer market was in 2006, where the club bought the defender Marcelo, who went on to become a club legend, the forward Gonzalo Higuaín, who played seven seasons at the club... and the midfielder Fernando Gago, the higher profile player from the three at the time, who was loaned to Roma after a few years plagued with injuries.
Other successful players joined Real Madrid in the month of January, like Casemiro in 2012 or, to a much lesser extent, Lass Diarra in 2009, but others have been forgotten, like Lucas Silva in 2015 or Huntelaar in 2009. Even Martin Odegaard joined the club in 2015 at the age of 16, but after very sporadic appearances on the main team, he joined Arsenal in 2021 and is now the captain of the team.
Who do you wish was signed by Real Madrid this winter?