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Whenever you think about Real Madrid, you think about the glitz and glamour, the stars, the giant summer signings and it’s pretty easy to forget what they do at the youth level like Barcelona, Manchester United and Arsenal, which had ample amount of talented players from their Youth academy.
The philosophies of the Madrid-based club, including the famous Galactico Era, do not revolve around promoting youth like clubs such as Athletic Bilbao or Barcelona. They simply trade for the best.
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Last year at La Liga, Barcelona have 11 players (out of 22) in their squad belonging to their youth academy whereas Madrid only had 5 (out of 26) and there are players who often, after being sold, are bought back, but it is usually forgotten that they were once canteranos.
But still, at the end of the January transfer window, out of the 20 teams in the Primera Division, only four – Real Sociedad, Athletic Bilbao, Barcelona and Zaragoza – did not contain one player in their squad who had graduated from Real Madrid’s cantera.
It’s quite an astonishing accomplishment to see 16 teams containing at least one player instilled with the Los Blancos philosophy, and apart from Zaragoza, the other three have known for developing their own talent.
Yet, across Europe, the talk is that Barcelona’s La Masia is the greatest academy, but with these numbers of players in Spain alone, can Real have an argument that there’s is just as good? Maybe.
They might not have the best youth academy’s in the world but certainly they are not that weak as you might believe, and to make my point stronger, below is the list of some great players who belonged to the youth academy of Real Madrid, which will certainly make you think twice.
Iker Casillas
Captain of the white side of Madrid as well as Euro, World & Euro (again) Champions – Spain.
Iker made t through the ranks of the Real Madrid teams and is now probably the best goalkeeper in world football and also a polarizing figure on the field.
Winning five La Liga titles, two Champions League titles, a World Cup, two Euro Cup, four Supercopas only add to his legacy to being one of the greatest players ever to come out of the Real Madrid Academy.
Alvaro Arbeloa
Moving from the youth ranks of Real Madrid, Arbeloa was sold to Deportivo La Coruna and eventually Liverpool. Spending three seasons with the Merseyside club, he made 98 appearances and was a Champions League runner-up before returning to Real Madrid.
Currently with the club, he had made 84 appearances wining the Cope del Rey & League once.
Arbeloa’s biggest success came at Euro 2012 when the regular centre back Carles Puyol was unavailable for Euro 2012 due to injury, Sergio Ramos played in the centre of defense and Arbeloa started all six games at right back as Spain won the tournament for the third time.
Raul Gonzalez
Raul started his professional career in the 1994–95 season Real Madrid C, he scored 13 goals in just seven games and was swiftly promoted to the first team by coach Jorge Valdano. He was only 17 years and 124 days old.
The Rest is History.
He later became the most capped Real Madrid player of all time (with 741 caps) and the top scorer in history (with 323 goals), as well as becoming the UEFA Champions League Record Goalscorer (71 goals).
He filled his trophy cabinet with such trophies as: three Champion Leagues, four La Liga titles, four Supercopas, a UEFA Super Cup, two Intercontinental Cups and a number of individual honours.
He then signed with Schalke 04 and since then has won the German Cup and Supercup.
Legendary.
Guti
Also made his way through the ranks of Real Madrid, eventually being promoted to the first team. The midfielder went on to become a regular in the club’s starting lineup, making a total of 526 appearances.
With Real Madrid, Guti won three Champions Leagues, five La Ligas, four Supercopas and more. He currently plays for Besiktas in the Turkish Super Lig, winning the Turkish Cup this season.
Juan Mata
Mata spent one year at Real Madrid Youth clubs before the talented winger was bought by Valencia in 2007 helping them to win the Copa del Rey.
He then signed to Chelsea in 2011 and in his first season he helped Chelsea win both FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League, it was the club’s most successful season in recent years.
He also scored in the 4-0 drubbing of Italy by Spain at the UEFA Euro 2012 final marking his second title with the senior team (after the 2010 World Cup).
Juan Mata has a brillant footballing career and it all started the RM youth academy.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- Daniel Parejo (Valencia)
- Roberto Soldado (Valencia)
- Esteban Granero (QPR)
- Santiago Cañizares
- Emilio Butragueno
- Ruben De La Red
- Luis Garcia
- José María Callejón
