Chelsea interested in highly-rated Real Madrid defender

Real Madrid have had a tough time in recent years bringing through the club’s youth standouts. While the likes of Vinicius Jr, Rodrygo and Federico Valverde have been signed as teenagers and developed into first-team superstars at Santiago Bernabeu, the same cannot be said about those who have come through the developmental ranks.

It is not hard to understand why that is the case though. Real Madrid are one of the best teams on the planet and the expectation is to win every match. Thus, youngsters don’t often get enough chances to develop and show what they are capable of at the senior, and inevitably move away.

One of the most highly-rated players at Castilla in recent years has been centre-back, Rafa Marin. Yet, he has not even made his debut at the senior level, and now is drawing interest from abroad.

As reported by The Telegraph, Chelsea are eyeing a move for Marin. It would be in keeping with the new ownership’s policy of investing in players with long-term potential. The Spaniard could be available for a knockdown price in the summer.

It is actually surprising that Marin is yet to make a single appearance for Real Madrid at the senior level despite how high his potential is believed to be.

He is already 20 years of age and needs to be playing regular minutes now, in order to continue his development as a player.

But regular minutes at Real Madrid will be very difficult to come by considering the fact that the club already have the likes of Antonio Rudiger, David Alaba, Eder Militao, Nacho Fernandez and Jesus Vallejo in their ranks.

Nacho is expected to leave at the end of this season though, and perhaps that could open a door for Marin.