Real Madrid will assuredly sign Espanyol defender Mario Hermoso in January
With Jesus Vallejo being extremely inconsistent as far as his fitness is concerned, Real Madrid will invest in a central defender, imminently in the month of January.
Real Madrid will trigger their buyback clause in January for Mario Hermoso and land the defender back at the Santiago Bernabeu in the January transfer window, according to various trustworthy claims. Having developed through Real Madrid’s famous academy- La Fabrica- Hermoso played for the club’s ranks before moving to Espanyol in search of regular playing time for the first team in July 2017.
In the last 18 months or so, the central defender has been emerging as an indispensable player in the Catalans’ line-up and he has been extremely instrumental for them as they sit 2nd in La Liga Santander this season having picked up three points in each of their five home match of theirs so far in the season.
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As a result of his recent performances, he has also been called up by Luis Enrique to join with Spain’s national team in the upcoming weeks for their fixtures against Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Real Madrid’s payment of the buyback clause would mean that they will be able to sign Mario Hermoso at a nominal transfer fee of 7.5 million euros which seems like a bargain considering the way he has performed for the El Prats. Espanyol is not looking to sell the centre back, but if Real Madrid wishes to exercise their buyback clause then there’s little they can do about it. Plus, the club’s owner Chen Yansheng is in need of some funds.
With a height of over six feet, Mario Hermoso has a typical central defender’s stature and has some outstanding capabilities, with tackling and heading being the primary ones. Jesus Vallejo has been unable to maintain match fitness since arriving back from a loan spell at Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany. No manager has been able to rely on him as such, so the European champions are considering to get rid of him.
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Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane will continue to be a pairing in the centre of defence irrespective of Mario’s arrival, whereas he and Nacho will be competitors and could also start in the cup matches or when the first choice players are injured. 7.5 million euros is a fantastic investment for a talented lad like Hermoso. In the worst case, he may not match expectations, but Madrid would have still only dished out a small amount on him.