Real Madrid are not renowned for their academy, but it’s one of the most successful in Spain.
La Fabrica continues to produce plenty of players that go on to find homes around La Liga and the rest of Europe’s top leagues. The latest examples being central defenders Mario Gila and Victor Chust, who were recently sold to Lazio and Cadiz respectively.
Currently in the first team are Dani Carvajal, Jesus Vallejo, Mariano Diaz, Borja Mayoral, Nacho Fernandez and Lucas Vazquez who all came through at Valdebebas. A recent article in Diario AS has detailed how Real Madrid’s academy has been turned into a money-making machine though.
Since Florentino Perez returned to the Presidency in 2009, an incredible €365m has been made from the sale of Castilla graduates. The most notable being that of Alvaro Morata to Chelsea, securing a remarkable €80m fee.
This marks somewhat of a change of course in recent years. The famous Zidanes y Pavones, Perez’s plan to populate the first team with a mixture of star signings and academy players, has been lacking in Pavones lately. Only Carvajal, Nacho and Vazquez have made significant contributions out of the academy graduates still there. All have been in the team for a while with little sign of the next academy star in sight. While it funds the signings of Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga, Madridistas might not mind so much.
