Real Madrid teenage gem could make his first-team breakthrough this season | OneFootball

Real Madrid are monitoring several centre-backs across Europe as potential targets for the summer of 2026.

William Saliba’s contract extension at Arsenal comes as a setback, but Los Blancos have their eyes on the French duo of Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool) and Castello Lukeba (RB Leipzig).

At the same time, though, Real Madrid have not lost sights of the talents coming through their own youth ranks, La Fabrica.

Joan Martinez in line for first-team breakthrough

Indeed, according to Rodra of ESPN, teenage defender Joan Martinez is someone that Real Madrid see as a future first-team player for the club.

In fact, the Spanish capital club are not ruling out the possibility of the 18-year-old defender making his first-team breakthrough in the ongoing season, depending upon his performances for Castilla.

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Martinez had already broken into the senior setup last year, going on the pre-season tour under Carlo Ancelotti. But an ACL injury soon after the trip sidelined him for the entire campaign.

Since making his return this summer with Castilla, Martinez has been growing steadily, and Xabi Alonso has been closely following the youngster’s progress with Alvaro Arbeloa’s reserve team.

Real Madrid even tied down the teenage centre-back to a new long-term contract recently until 2029, even raising his release clause significantly to €150 million.

So, it is not entirely ruled out that Martinez soon breaks into the senior setup at Real Madrid before the end of the current season.