Real Madrid are looking for reinforcements in the central position during the January market and one of the names that has popped up on their radar is that of talented Brazilian Robert Renan, a 20-year-old defender owned by Zenit de St. Petersburg. This young central defender meets the three main requirements that the White team is looking for: he is left-footed, promising and has a bright future ahead of him, having recently even made his debut for the Brazilian senior national team. In addition, his price is considered affordable, which could facilitate his arrival at Real Madrid through an economic transfer or, preferably, a loan with an option to buy in the summer, allowing the club to evaluate his performance before making a final decision.
Robert Renan joins the list of Brazilian talents that Real Madrid are closely following, following its strategy of acquiring promising young players from selling clubs before their prices skyrocket, AS newspaper pointed out. This strategy has already borne fruit with players like Valverde, Lunin and Camavinga. The loan with option to buy formula was also applied in the case of Brazilian full-back Vinicius Tobias, who is currently on loan from Shakhtar.
Problems with sanctions against Russian clubs
However, there is a non-football challenge that could complicate Renan’s potential arrival at Real Madrid. Sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States on football clubs linked to the Russian government could hamper the process, as these sanctions restrict financial transactions with Russian clubs. Zenit, the team that owns Renan, is affiliated with Gazprom, a Russian state-owned company. Despite these sanctions, a recent investigation found that several European clubs have ignored these restrictions and conducted business with Russian teams without any apparent problems.