BREAKING NEWS: Madrid´s Odriozola loaned to Bayern for rest of the season

Bayern Munich have bolstered their defensive options by signing Alvaro Odriozola on loan from Real Madrid for the remainder of the season.

The 24-year-old was a target of head coach Hansi Flick, who himself is under contract until the end of the season, and will give the Bundesliga champions more defensive flexibility as they seek to defend their crown.

Odriozola, capped four times by Spain, has only made four LaLiga appearances for Madrid this term, with the most recent of those coming in October.

While he is behind Dani Carvajal in the Madrid pecking order for right-backs, Odriozola could feature regularly for Bayern given their injury problems in defence.

His arrival may lead to Benjamin Pavard reverting inside to centre-back, where Bayern are short of options with Javi Martinez, Lucas Hernandez and Niklas Sule all sidelined.

#ServusÁlvaro #FCBayern #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/YQWZBg5sND

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) January 22, 2020

In a statement on Bayern’s website, chief executive Karl Heinz-Rummenigge said: “Following internal discussions, we decided to follow the wishes of our head coach Hansi Flick in strengthening the defence and decided to go for Alvaro Odriozola.

“We are delighted about the signing and thank Real Madrid for the friendly and cooperative talks.”

Former Real Sociedad defender Odriozola joined Los Blancos in 2018 for a reported €40million and he featured in 14 LaLiga games in his debut term in the capital.