Cantera al Real rhymes with… mine: 365 million euros in 13 years

Since 2009, Real Madrid have earned € 365 million from transfers of footballers raised in Valdebebas.

“Cantera”, in Spain, is the noun that defines the concept of the youth sector. At Real Madrid, however, it takes on another meaning and turns into … mine. Accounts in hand, as reported by AS, the Real Madrid academy not only serves to nurture potential players for the first team but is also a source of funding for the club.

The idea of ​​Real Madrid is clear: they want to keep all the pillars of Castilla 2021-22 in the squad and if possible add some of the talents of Juvenil A. The reasoning is simple. Many talents ready to appear in the first team, unless they are absolute phenomena, are forced to move. And therefore, to make money. Not being from Real Madrid does not mean, in fact, not being able to play at high levels. On the contrary. Many boys from Cantera are also sold at great prices to other teams in Spain or abroad. Just think of the latest cases: Gila and Chust. The first went to Lazio, bequeathing the club five million euros. Chust, on the other hand, was sold to Cadiz for a million. And they are only the latest: since the summer of 2009, when Florentino Pérez returned to the presidency of Real Madrid, the Juventus club has received a good 365 million euros from the transfers of players who grew up in Cantera.

Real’s youth teams have also been invaluable and above all as a form of self-financing in recent years. Just think of Negredo who had played the previous two seasons at Almería (scoring 32 goals) and was transferred to Sevilla in exchange for 14 million euros. It was the first major operation, followed by Jesé at PSG for 25 million. The record instead belongs to Morata. His sale to Chelsea brought in 80 million. La Cantera has also made it possible to absorb the crisis linked to the pandemic and the consequent contraction of the market. In the summer of 2020, Madrid grossed 93 million euros in the sales of the players who grew up in Valdebebas. Achraf Hakimi was bought 40 million euros, while Reguilón followed suit, earning 30 million euros. Óscar also contributed 15 million euros to the “treasure”. Together they kept the club afloat at its worst.