Carlo Ancelotti said on Saturday that he couldn’t have asked for more from Real Madrid on signings, with the club now in the middle of a major defensive rebuild after failing to land a major trophy this season.

Madrid’s rivals Barcelona were confirmed as LaLiga champions on Thursday after Ancelotti’s team had already missed out on winning the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, in a campaign defined by a string of injuries to key players.

Madrid have now reacted, announcing the signing of centre-back Dean Huijsen, working on the arrival of right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and in talks with Benfica over left-back Álvaro Carreras.

But speaking in a news conference, Ancelotti said he had no regrets over the club’s failure to add to the squad last summer, or in January, after key defenders Éder Militão and Dani Carvajal were both ruled out long term.

“Last year [signing a defender] wasn’t an option,” Ancelotti said, speaking ahead of Madrid’s LaLiga game at Sevilla. “We had [David] Alaba coming back [from injury], and Militão and Carvajal were fit, and during the season those injuries affected us.

“Since I’ve been here, Real Madrid have signed [Eduardo] Camavinga, [Antonio] Rüdiger, [Aurélien] Tchouaméni, [Jude] Bellingham, [Kylian] Mbappé… Could I ask for more? No.”

Madrid went into last weekend’s 4-3 Clásico defeat at Barcelona, which effectively ended the title race, without their entire first-choice back four of Carvajal, Militão, Rüdiger and Ferland Mendy.

However Ancelotti said a lack of January reinforcements weren’t decisive in Madrid’s poor season, and refused to criticise the club’s inaction.

“All the decisions we’ve taken were taken with me, with the coaching staff,” Ancelotti said. “Last year we had the same problems and we were able to fix them. This year it was more difficult… It’s been an obvious problem. The key has been the injuries we’ve had in defence. There were too many, for very important players.”

Barcelona officially clinched the title in Thursday’s 2-0 victory at Espanyol, and Ancelotti said Hansi Flick’s team “deserved to win it.”

“Sometimes you aren’t able to get the best out of everyone as a team,” Ancelotti said. “Barcelona have done well, we have to congratulate them. They’ve been more consistent, they’ve played really good football.”

Ancelotti is set to leave Madrid at the end of the domestic season to take the Brazil national team job, with the club finalising a deal for Xabi Alonso to take over in time for next month’s Club World Cup.