Real Madrid defender Nacho Fernandez is reportedly back on the radars of Serie A outfit AS Roma ahead of the January transfer window.
According to a report from TodoFichajes, AS Roma are eyeing a January raid on La Liga champions Real Madrid for the signing of versatile defender Nacho Fernandez.
A product of the Real Madrid academy, Nacho made his first-team debut for the Merengues way back in 2011 but has never quite been able to establish himself as a regular at Santiago Bernabeu. Till date, the 30-year-old has racked up 208 appearances for the club, bagging 11 goals and 6 assists in the process.
Nacho was hardly used by manager Zinedine Zidane last season, with the Spaniard making just 10 appearances across all competitions as Real Madrid went on to win the La Liga title. This had led to speculations over his future at the club, with Roma being interested in the summer transfer window.
However, no move materialised at the time and Nacho stayed put at Real Madrid and has featured a fair bit this term, owing to the number of defensive injuries that Zidane has had to deal with. The Spanish international hasn’t exactly been a consistent performer but his versatility provided the manager with some depth in the squad.
Nacho’s current contract with Real Madrid expires in 2022 and the club are willing to allow the 30-year-old to depart, despite having thought about offering him an extension. The defender himself is open to an exit from the club, having decided not to enter talks over a new deal with the club, as per the report.
And AS Roma seems to be the likeliest destination for the Real Madrid cantera. As iterated earlier, the Giallorossi were interested in recruiting the 30-year-old back in the summer and have once again made him their primary transfer target heading into the January transfer window.
It is claimed that Roma manager Paulo Fonseca has given his approval for the transfer to go through, with the belief being that Nacho’s versatility and experience would bring a lot of value to the squad.
Real Madrid and Roma share a good relation and worked on a deal in the summer which saw striker Borja Mayoral move to Stadio Olimpico on a two-year loan deal, with an option to buy. It will be interesting to see whether the Merengues sanction a transfer midway through the campaign, considering the injury problems that they have had.
