Real Sociedad monitor right-backs as Odriozola sidelined until 2027 | OneFootball

Real Sociedad are monitoring right-backs this summer, with Álvaro Odriozola sidelined until 2027 and cover on that flank looking light.

According to Diario Vasco, the club’s priority targets are a centre-back on a permanent deal and an attacker, yet recruitment staff are also scanning the right-back market in case a genuine opportunity arises. Any move is not considered obligatory. The summer has opened with decisions not to extend the loans of Duje Caleta-Car and Wesley.

Aritz Elustondo’s departure and Odriozola’s long-term absence leave Jon Aramburu and Gaizka Rupérez as the remaining options. Rupérez missed virtually all of last season, aside from a few minutes against Espanyol, after a meniscus problem. With four competitions ahead, only Aramburu is assured of a place.

Rupérez will start pre-season as one of the group and will compete to stay in the squad, having been back working at Zubieta to be ready for Saturday four July. Odriozola tore his cruciate ligament and had surgery in late February, then underwent a routine knee procedure before the final, and it is not certain he will have meaningful minutes before that point.

The pathway at right-back is thin. The club have not renewed Dadie and Ansotegi only has Garro, 21, who is not viewed as first-team profile, so the B team may also need attention. The last right-back signing was Hamari Traoré in 2023, later sold to Paris FC for around four point five million, an exception in a decade largely covered by academy products.

Source: Diario Vasco