{"id":48777,"date":"2026-06-16T12:32:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/16\/manchester-city-defender-named-among-three-candidates-for-real-madrids-blockbuster-move\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T12:32:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:32:27","slug":"manchester-city-defender-named-among-three-candidates-for-real-madrids-blockbuster-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/16\/manchester-city-defender-named-among-three-candidates-for-real-madrids-blockbuster-move\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester City defender named among three candidates for Real Madrid&#8217;s blockbuster move"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/16\/manchester-city-defender-named-among-three-candidates-for-real-madrids-blockbuster-move\/#Real_Madrid_center_back_candidate_list\" >Real Madrid center back candidate list<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/16\/manchester-city-defender-named-among-three-candidates-for-real-madrids-blockbuster-move\/#Could_Dias_leave_Manchester_City_this_summer\" >Could Dias leave Manchester City this summer?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Real Madrid&#8217;s active start to the transfer market continues, with Marc Cucurella the last player confirmed to join the club. However, the Whites intend to stick with the deal and are expected to make another signing despite the addition of Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate.<\/p>\n<p>At least that&#8217;s how Jose Mourinho likes it. Konate, Cucurella and Denzel Dumfries can already provide the Portuguese manager with fresh defensive support, but Mourinho has called for another central defender and another central midfielder in addition to Bernardo Silva. Their centre-back room currently consists of Antonio Rudiger, who also extended his contract this week, Raul Asensio, Eder Militao and Dean Huyssen.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Real_Madrid_center_back_candidate_list\"><\/span>Real Madrid center back candidate list<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alessandro Bastoni warms up for Inter Milan (Photo by Marco Luzzani\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>According to a report from The Athletic, Real Madrid have three names on their shortlist for the centre-back position. Barcelona&#8217;s other target, Alessandro Bastoni, is also among them, although Inter have repeatedly announced that he will remain at the club this summer. Mourinho had initially considered Josko Gvardiol and Riccardo Calafioli, but relations between them have soured.<\/p>\n<p>Two other options being considered are Manchester City veteran Ruben Dias and Borussia Dortmund&#8217;s Nico Schlotterbeck. The latter has signed a contract extension with Dortmund, but his contract with Los Blancos reportedly comes with a \u20ac60 million release clause, while Dias still has three years left on his contract.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Could_Dias_leave_Manchester_City_this_summer\"><\/span>Could Dias leave Manchester City this summer?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><picture><source type=\"image\/webp\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manchester-city-v-real-madrid-cf-uefa-champions-league-2024-25-league-knockout-play-off-first-leg-320x197.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manchester-city-v-real-madrid-cf-uefa-champions-league-2024-25-league-knockout-play-off-first-leg-414x254.jpg.webp 414w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manchester-city-v-real-madrid-cf-uefa-champions-league-2024-25-league-knockout-play-off-first-leg-630x387.jpg.webp 630w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manchester-city-v-real-madrid-cf-uefa-champions-league-2024-25-league-knockout-play-off-first-leg-768x472.jpg.webp 768w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manchester-city-v-real-madrid-cf-uefa-champions-league-2024-25-league-knockout-play-off-first-leg-770x473.jpg.webp 770w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manchester-city-v-real-madrid-cf-uefa-champions-league-2024-25-league-knockout-play-off-first-leg-900x553.jpg.webp 900w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manchester-city-v-real-madrid-cf-uefa-champions-league-2024-25-league-knockout-play-off-first-leg-1200x737.jpg.webp 1200w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manchester-city-v-real-madrid-cf-uefa-champions-league-2024-25-league-knockout-play-off-first-leg-1536x944.jpg.webp 1536w,https:\/\/icdn.caughtoffside.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/manchester-city-v-real-madrid-cf-uefa-champions-league-2024-25-league-knockout-play-off-first-leg-2048x1258.jpg.webp 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(min-width:1230px) 770px, (min-width:1020px) 630px, (min-width:900px) 880px, (min-width:680px) 97vw, (min-width:414px) 414px, 100vw\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Real Madrid&#8217;s Brahim D\u00edaz scored his team&#8217;s second goal during the first leg of the UEFA Champions League final round, under pressure from Mateo Kovacic and Manchester City&#8217;s Ruben D\u00edaz. (Photo by Michael Regan\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Dias, 29, has been a key player for City since joining from Benfica in 2020, but having achieved everything at the Etihad, he could be tempted by a new challenge under compatriot Jose Mourinho. Given his age, City are probably close to their last chance to sell Dias for a hefty sum. It probably depends on how Enzo Maresca sees him and what role he plays in his projects.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Real Madrid&#8217;s active start to the transfer market continues, with Marc Cucurella the last player confirmed to join the club. However, the Whites intend to stick with the deal and are expected to make another signing despite the addition of Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate. At least that&#8217;s how Jose Mourinho likes it. Konate, Cucurella and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":["post-48777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}