Álvaro Carreras and Real Madrid both recently landed in Florida to participate in the club World Cup – to opposite parties.
The defender, who has reserved Xabi Alonso because his number 3, at least for another month, remains in the Bruno Lage team. That was not what Madrid originally had for their potential left back, but that is the situation when things stand. A lot of progress has been made during the negotiations, but the price tag of the player remains a dispute.
There is still enough soil to cover at the negotiating table. Personal conditions have never been a problem. The bottleneck remains the total reimbursement.
The reimbursement Benfica is looking for Álvaro Carreras
Real Madrid has been working for a while now to break down Benfica's resistance and is more than once in the door of the Lisbon club. But so far the answer has not changed. Benfica President Rui Costa made that crystal clear from Florida and told reporters: “We have not reached an agreement with Madrid (…). There were proposals that have not convinced us – not for Álvaro, or for another player.”
Madrid has worked on negotiating Carreras's substantial € 50 million (around $ 54 million) release clause. But Benfica is not exactly known for flexibility in the transfer market. As reported by AS, on 7 June, the two clubs were still € 8 million apart – Madrid offered € 40 million, while Benfica played with the idea of accepting € 48 million.
There was no handshake on time. And on June 10 at 6:00 Est, Carreras was officially registered for the FIFA's Summer Club tournament … with Benfica. No agreement, no deal. For now the movement is on a break.
It is a clear declaration of intent. Benfica does not hit the door on Real Madrid – far from it – but there is still a lot of negotiations to do.
The Lisbon -based club knows that it contains all cards. Madrid needs a left power, Carreras is their top goal and they are ready to pay. Benfica plays that lever to the limit. But there is still a wrinkle complicated conversations: not all transfer costs will end up in Benfica's treasury.
The “United Factor” is very involved
Manchester United has a back-back option of € 18 million ($ 19.5 million) on Álvaro Carreras-a route that Real Madrid regards as a solution to lower the transfer costs, effectively using United as a bridge club. But that road was quickly excluded.
Yet another clause is still alive. When United Carreras sold to Benfica for € 6 million, they retain, as the athletics reported, 20% of each future sale – as long as that sale is £ 5 million (around € 6 million). And in these types of deals, that 20% is applied to the profit, not to the total.
So if Carreras goes to Madrid for € 50 million, United would earn a profit of € 44 million. That is almost € 9 million ($ 9.8 million) on the way to Old Trafford.
Payment in installments
Activating Carreras's release clause of € 50 million ($ 54 million) would require a fixed payment in advance-and that is exactly what Real Madrid tries to avoid.
Instead, the club wants to structure the deal in installments, just as they did with Dean Huijsen and Franco Mastantuono, so that the costs are distributed over three payments in both cases. This is not only about cash flow – it also opens the door to a more favorable tax treatment, which makes the option all the more attractive.
In fact, that tax benefit has even led Madrid to count down the deals above the amount of the release clause in the past, simply to have the flat-rate mechanism keep away. There is optimism internally: Madrid expects to welcome Carreras in July. But before that can happen, they have to get Benfica on board – and there is still a long list of details to insist.
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