Florentino Pérez has made the decision after evaluating the pros and cons of several possibilities. After the recent injury in defense, Real Madrid will strengthen in the January market. There's already a player chosen as a "main target": Aymeric Laporte. He is not the profile that the club was looking for at first, but he's considered the best possible to find some stability.
The always well-informed Ramón Álvarez de Mon has discovered this. On his X account, he has revealed that Aymeric Laporte "is positioned as Real Madrid's main target for the January market." At the moment, nothing has been done, but "there have already been contacts" that took place before Éder Militão's injury, trying to find out his current availability.
Florentino Pérez is clear that he is the ideal center-back to land at Real Madrid, also because of his price. He has considered other possibilities, but they are all too expensive. In the case of Aymeric Laporte, the intention would be to close a transfer that would be around 10 or 12 million euros. In this sense, Al-Nassr would have to give its approval, a team where the Spanish center-back has a contract until 2026.
Aymeric Laporte Wants to Play for Real Madrid: Florentino Pérez Knows It and Approves
Aymeric Laporte wants to play for Real Madrid and would do everything in his power to achieve this. This even includes offering the possibility of negotiating the termination of his contract with Al-Nassr to arrive for free. This scenario is expected to be too complicated, to the point that Florentino Pérez is clear that he will have to pay for his arrival.
The main problem with this operation lies with the Saudi Arabian team. A year and a half ago they paid 27.5 million euros to sign Aymeric Laporte from City. He still has a year and a half left on his contract and they will not accept him leaving for free. If he does, Real Madrid would have to pay.
Real Madrid's choice of Aymeric Laporte seems clear. The other candidates are very expensive and his profile is a good fit and is very popular. In addition, he knows LaLiga and the Champions League first-hand, so he wouldn't need a long adaptation period.
Aymeric Laporte's arrival could be finalized in January. Even so, Florentino Pérez is not ruling out another big transfer in the center of defense for next season.