According to TuttoMercatoWeb, Dumfries is set to become the fourth player in history to transfer from Inter to Real Madrid.
Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman confirmed the news: "I gave him permission. I don't know if the transfer is completely finalized yet, but if anyone deserves this, it's him. Although I would have preferred to see him go to Barcelona."
This once again confirms that the deal is informally close to completion, although several steps are still required: first, Florentino Pérez's confirmation that he will continue leading the club; then the official announcement of Mourinho's return to the Real Madrid dugout; and finally, the activation of a release clause of approximately 20 million Euros from July 1st. These steps are largely formalities, but they will also delay the finalization of the deal by several weeks.
Dumfries will become the fourth player in history to transfer from Inter to Real Madrid. The first was Roberto Carlos in the summer of 1996. The Brazilian had a brief spell at Inter, but after moving to Madrid, he went on to become one of the greatest left-backs in football history.
The second, and more significant, signing Real Madrid made from Inter came in the summer of 2002, with Luis Nazário de Lima, also known as Ronaldo, at the center of the move. The Brazilian joined the Spanish club after five seasons at Inter, having just won the World Cup and with his relationship with Cúper becoming increasingly strained.
Before Dumfries, the most recent player with Inter experience to join Real Madrid was Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovačić. He spent three seasons at the club that has won the most titles in the world before moving to the Premier League, where he played for Chelsea and then Man City.
Many more players have taken the opposite route: from Cambiasso to Seedorf, from Samuel to Figo, as well as Solari, Panucci, Zamorano, Sneijder, and Hakimi. Hakimi joined Inter after a season on loan at Dortmund. The Moroccan full-back was sold to PSG a year later, in the summer of 2021, and his replacement was Dumfries. Now, Dumfries is also set to leave Inter to join Real Madrid.