Do Real Madrid Need a Big Deal in Final Week of the January Transfer Window?

Just two weeks ago, the answer was no. But now, it's a little harder to determine. 

When the current January transfer window opened, Real Madrid were expected to be relatively quiet in the market. Under the presidency of Florentino Perez, the club has rarely made mid-season splashes, typically doing its major deals in the summer and only using the winter window for bolstering squad depth and making peripheral moves. 

Yet, the announcement in mid-January that Madrid (and neighbours Atletico Madrid) had been handed a transfer ban for the next two windows by FIFA for alleged breaches relating to the signing of youth players has complicated matters significantly.

Now, will Madrid hastily add players before the ban kicks in? Will they hold out and trust their appeal will be successful? Are many of the club's plans now on hold?

Indeed, the uncertainty created by FIFA's ruling is in large part due to the expectation that Madrid were approaching a period of squad upheaval in the coming summer. In that, Cristiano Ronaldo seemed a likely candidate to move elsewhere. As did Pepe. Sky Sports' Guillem Balague has indicated Karim Benzema fell into the same category, too. 

To fill the superstar void, Madrid were going to chase Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski in the summer, according to AS (and still will if the ban is lifted or suspended), with Bayern's honorary president Franz Beckenbauer even admitting to Deutsche Presse-Agentur (h/t AS) that the striker "is a possible candidate to join Real Madrid."

Los Blancos had also been strongly linked with Chelsea's Eden Hazard amid the expectation that Perez would seek to build a new-look team at the Bernabeu for the 2016-17 season. But now all of this has been thrown into doubt; the success of Madrid's appeal against the ruling will be decisive, but until then, we're left with a mess of possible scenarios. 

Thus, do Madrid need to buck their own trend and get moving in the final week of the January transfer window as a precautionary measure? Do they need to strike a big winter deal?

Area of Need

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Real Madrid can probably forget about marquee names for now. In January, superstars rarely move, due to a combination of grossly inflated fees, extremely reluctant sellers and the fact that such players are almost certainly cup tied in the Champions League. Embedding into a new setup midseason isn't exactly enticing for a lot of players, either. 

However, Madrid do have one of area of need that's possible to address: left-back. 

Though the club possesses one of the world's leading full-backs in Marcelo, there is no natural cover for the Brazilian, who's now been over-worked for 18 months. Already in 2015-16, Marcelo has endured difficulties with injuries—the soft-tissue variety that are indicative of heavy workloads—and though Danilo and Nacho have stepped in to cover, playing right-backs out of position shouldn't be a necessity for a club of Madrid's size. 

According to Marca, the club has considered making moves for Liverpool's Alberto Moreno, Lyon's Samuel Umtiti and Wolfsburg's Ricardo Rodriguez, the latter being the club's preferred option. 

The importance of signing a left-back also goes beyond the current season. If Madrid's transfer ban is upheld, the club could be without cover at the position for another 18 months if a back-up isn't signed, and that would leave Madrid with only the option of recalling Fabio Coentrao from his loan spell at Monaco—and his injury problems have persisted since moving to Ligue 1. 

More Stockpiling?

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Twelve months ago, the suspicion was that Madrid knew this transfer ban was coming.

In late 2014, the club reached a deal with Mallorca for Marco Asensio; in early 2015, it signed Martin Odegaard and Lucas Silva, who is now on loan at Marseille; Danilo came next; Mateo Kovacic arrived after him, and Casemiro, Lucas Vazquez and Denis Cheryshev were brought back to the Bernabeu. Jesus Vallejo was also signed and loaned back to Real Zaragoza. 

"The same as filling a nuclear shelter with water and biscuits," said AS. 

Now, it looks as if the stockpiling could continue. According to Marca, Madrid are looking to sign Rodrigo Bentancur from Boca Juniors, with the intention of placing him with Castilla. 

Marca says the push to sign Bentancur isn't related to the transfer ban, but it certainly looks like a continuation of the above trend. 

Positioned to Cope

If Real Madrid's transfer ban is upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the club will largely be handcuffed at a very delicate juncture. However, it's the stockpiling outlined above that has left Madrid in a position in which they can cope. 

At Espanyol, Asensio has enjoyed a breakout season and looks capable of impacting games for Los Blancos if they choose to recall him (players out on loan aren't affected by the FIFA ban). To cover any potential losses next summer, the club could also recall Silva from Marseille, Alvaro Medran from Getafe, Diego Llorente from Rayo Vallecano, Omar Mascarell from Sporting Gijon or Vallejo from Zaragoza. 

And those men would add to an already-strong supporting cast that includes Casemiro, Kovacic, Vazquez, Cheryshev, Kiko Casilla and Jese. At times, stars like Isco and Dani Carvajal have also been relegated into supporting roles. 

As such, depth isn't a problem for Real Madrid, and while building a new-look team could prove problematic in the coming transfer windows, Madrid's squad will be well positioned to cope provided they can sign a left-back.