Real Madrid have not brought through an academy product since the likes of Alvaro Morata and of the current squad, Lucas Vazquez and Nacho Fernandez are the latest representatives of La Fabrica. The former made his bow eight years ago. However after Sergio Arribas came on against Al Ahly and scored almost immediately, the clamour for Carlo Ancelotti to give more minutes to the current generation at Castilla will only grow.
Arribas took just 28 seconds to come on and score his goal against Al Ahly in the Club World Cup. Speaking to Marca after the match Ancelotti explained that the academy was very important for Real Madrid.
“It’s a very important issue for us. The youth academy must be taken into account, but at Real Madrid there are players of a very, very high level and that’s why it’s not easy to give them minutes.”
“The youth academy coaches are doing a fantastic job and some of them will soon be in the first team. The Real Madrid squad is the one that has won the European Cup and that means a lot.”
While it is true that there are a lot of quality players in the Real Madrid squad already struggling for minutes, there are also holes that might have been filled by academy players.
At right-back Nacho has been playing almost the entire time that Dani Carvajal and Vazquez have been absent in recent weeks. Ancelotti has moved Eduardo Camavinga, to great effect it should be said, to left-back rather than promoting an more natural option.
Perhaps the most clear example of where Ancelotti might have turned to La Fabrica is up front. With Benzema injured for much of the season, and Mariano Diaz clearly out of favour, Ancelotti has not used a Castilla striker even as an option off the bench.
