Over the past decade, Real Madrid’s La Fabrica has cashed in over €300m. More so, with Los Blancos needing to cut down their large squad ahead of the 2020-21 season, they opt for ‘Operation Exit’ to trim the squad.
There’s no shortage of talent at La Fabrica in Valdebebas, great players had moved up the ladder from the academy into the first team, such stars include club legends Raul Gonzalez, Iker Casillas, Fernando Morientes who all went on to achieved success with Los Blancos.
Having pointed out players who came through the academy and wowed the Santiago Bernabeu fans, as a matter of fact only four players from the academy have made the current Real Madrid’s first team, while many couldn’t.
Even with some of the players not making it into the first team, they’ve proved to be a significant source of income for Los Blancos over the years.
Here on Cheapgoals, we’ll chronicle, the sales of La Fabrica graduates who were sold this summer.
Since Real Madrid’s academy was founded, Los Blanco’s most profitable year in terms of shipping out academy players was in 2017.
Five players who graduated from the academy left the four walls of the Bernabeu, namely Mariano to Lyon for €8m, Diego Llorente to Real Sociedad for €7m, Alvaro Morata to Chelsea for £60m, Burgui to Alaves and Alvaro to Getafe. And as reported, all of the deals brought in a total of over €98m for Los Blancos.
According to a report, the budget uses in running La Fabrica is worth around €20.8m per year.
Florentino Perez explained in one of his recent General Assembly, that “If they ‘Players’ go on to make the first team, we’ll be delighted, but there isn’t room for all of them“. With such a statement, it’s crystal clear that not all of the players would make it into the main squad.
Out of the academy, 83 players are currently playing for different clubs across Europe, 41 abroad, and 42 in Spain. These further buttress the fact that not all of the players from La Fabrica would go on to play for arguably the biggest club in Europe and Spain.
- Achraf Hakimi – (Inter Milan, €40m)
The Moroccan international had an impressive performance throughout his two years loan spell at Borussia Dortmund, before returning to Real Madrid this year. Since the return of Dani Carvajal from his loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen, he has made the right-back position his, as such Achraf Hakimi, one of the youngsters who graduated from La Fabrica opt to exit Real Madrid.
The €40m offer by the Nerazzurri for Hakimi’s deal was irresistible, he switched to the Blue and Black side of Milan this summer from Real Madrid. The Moroccan international amazing stats throughout his two years loan spell in Germany suggested he was the right man for Antonio Conte led side.
The new Inter Milan man scored five times and recorded ten assists in 33 Bundesliga games for Dortmund. He was also ranked among top players with the highest volume of completed passes, with him now playing in the Seria A, his penchant for creating chances for his teammates is expected to continue under Conte.
- Sergio Reguilon – (Tottenham Hotspur, €30m)
Reguilon was subject to much transfer interest this summer, following his impressive loan spell at Sevilla last season, which culminated in winning the UEFA Europa League against Inter Milan.
In a similar situation to Hakimi’s move away from Real Madrid, he was also allowed to leave the club this summer because of the qualities of players in his position.
In that regard, the Tottenham management coughed out €30m to have the service of the left-back, with a buy-back clause in his contract which affords Los Merengue to buy him back for an increased fee within the next two years.
The Spanish left-back is also one of Real Madrid’s La Fabrica products that left the club this summer, having done brilliantly well at Sevilla.
Reguilon made 22 senior appearances for Zinedine Zidane led side, all of which came in the 2018-19 campaign before going on loan to Sevilla, now that he moves to London he would be hoping to return back to his boyhood club in the future.
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- Oscar Rodriguez – (Sevilla, €13.5m)
Before the transfer market comes to a closure, Los Merengue is more confident that one of their youth product will find a good club to continue developing as a player, after a successful loan spell last season at Leganes.
He scored nine goals for the Butarque based side, which made him got a lot of admiration from top clubs across Europe.
Having shown at Butarque that he could ruffle shoulders with the big boys in the league, Europa League champions Sevilla came knocking at Los Blanco’s door this summer to get the deal of Oscar Rodriguez done for €13m after been deemed to surplus to requirement at Real Madrid.
Oscar Rodriguez is a fine midfielder and a dead ball specialist, he is expected to continue his brilliant run of form for the Andalusian side as he joined from Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, as reported Los Blancos will retain 25 percent of his ownership while 75 percent belongs to Sevilla, and in case any future offer comes in for him the Madrid camp would be made aware of the deal.
- Javi Sanchez – (Real Valladolid, €3m)
Javi has been on Los Merengue books since 2005 when he was just eight years old, but left the four walls of the Bernabeu on loan to Real Valladolid in 2018. Taking a closer look at his spell at the Estadio Jose Zorrilla, he didn’t have much playing time due to injury struggles for the White and Violets.
Signing Javi Sanchez permanently came as a surprise to many, considering how much he struggled with injuries last season, registering just two La Liga minutes for the club all season.
Due to that, Real Valladolid shouldn’t have considered signing the Spaniard on a permanent deal, but that doesn’t deter them because more often than not loan deals in Javi’s case don’t usually end in a permanent deal, rather it often ends in both parties going their separate ways.
However, despite injury struggles, he was well thought of, which made the club signed him on a permanent contract until 2024, but then the Madrid hierarchy would also have the first option on his future transfer should he move elsewhere in the future.
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- Jorge De Frutos & Dani Gomez – (Levante, Total €7.5m)
Before the closure of the transfer window this summer, Los Merengue officially confirmed the duo transfers of 23-year-old winger Jorge De Frutos, who made 17 appearances for Rayo Vallecano after his January loan move. And Spain U21 forward Dani Gomez, who also netted 11 goals and provided two assists for Tenerife last season.
Gomez joined the La Fabrica system as an 11-year-old back in 2012 and starred for the Castilla side in recent seasons netting over 16 times in Segunda B, before earning his move to Tenerife last summer to further develop himself.
While in the case of Jorge de Frutos, he joined La Fabrica some two years ago from Madrid based outfit Rayo Majadahonda, before he was sold to bring in a profit for the club.
As far as the duo deal is concerned, the Granotas and Los Blancos would retain a 50% ownership of both player’s contract as well as the right of first refusal for any offers for the duo in the future.
- Miguel Baeza – (Celta Vigo, €3m)
In the 2019-20 campaign, the 20-year-old starlet featured hugely for the team under the supervision of club legend Raul Gonzalez, played a total of 32 games across the Segunda Division B and the UEFA Youth League, scoring 10 goals and providing six assists.
His move to the Balaido, having signed a five-year deal made the talented midfielder Celta’s third signing in the transfer window. Meanwhile, his move to Celta also presented Real Madrid with the opportunity to retain 50 percent of his right, for future transfer.
It’s also included in the deal that Real Madrid has the option of either bringing him back to the Bernabeu in the future, for a cut-price fee or receive half his transfer fee should he join another club.
- Alberto Soro – (Granada, €2m)
Soro’s move to Granada is no doubt the best deal for both Los Blancos and Los Carmenes, which to some large extent it’s a good one for the player himself.
The move presents a bigger platform for Soro to test himself at the highest level this season when the UEFA Europa League commences as Granada would be making their debut in the competition.
The 21-year-old signed for Real Madrid in 2019 following his five year deal from Real Zaragoza. Albeit, Soro never had the opportunity to don Real Madrid’s jersey, as he was immediately loaned to Zaragoza.
He did have an excellent loan spell, playing for the Segunda side last season with over 39 games, contributing 4 goals and 7 assists.
Soro won’t be the only Madridista playing for Los Carmenes this season under Diego Martinez’s exciting new project, Jesus Vallejo who is also spending his second year on at the club will also be in the team, interestingly both were signed from Zaragoza.
Conclusion
Some of Real Madrid’s La Fabrica players who didn’t leave the club permanently, but rather went on loan also brought in a lot of profit for the club, that includes Borja Mayoral and some couple of players.
More so, with the kind of policy Real Madrid has adopted in selling or loaning out their La Fabrica’s, it’s evident should they continue with the policy, there would be more profitable outcomes in the future.
This summer, they’ve cashed in millions which is a testament to the success of their youth system from the financial point of view.
