Bayern Munich look set to pull off what looked close to impossible six months ago, having agreed terms to a new deal with left-back Alphonso Davies. Real Madrid were heavily linked with the Canada star too, and agreed terms with him verbally, but their agreement ended up meaning little.
According to Marca, the seeds of the collapsed move to Real Madrid were sewn in the summer. Having reached an agreement with Davies in February of last year, when Bayern Munich came to the negotiating table to offer him a new deal, the Bavarian side began to suspect that he had been in talks with another club.
However come the summer, Bayern tried to sell Davies fo €55-60m so as not to lose him for free. Real Madrid, seeing that his performances had taken a downturn, and with Ferland Mendy performing well, decided to ask him to wait a year. They did not try to do a deal in the summer, hoping to save themselves a hefty transfer fee.
It was at this point that Davies reportedly began to have doubts about a move to the Santiago Bernabeu, feeling he had been hung out to dry by Los Blancos. With a move to Real Madrid on the cards, Davies would have had to play out the final year of his deal in an uncomfortable situation. By the summer, Davies was already showing more of an open disposition to listen to Bayern offers. Real Madrid were aware of this, but decided not to make any further moves, holding out until January to sign Davies for free on the same agreed terms, when he could sign a precontract.
Recent reports say that Real Madrid are content with their transfer strategy, and accept that cases like this, where they might miss out on Davies, are part and parcel of it. However after missing out on Leny Yoro and the Canadian, they are already feeling the impact of missing out, with another injury crisis hitting the centre-back position and Mendy’s performances dipping this season.
