How Real Madrid Made €100m From Academy Sales in Summer 2020
In the COVID-19 era where money is dwindling and football clubs are struggling to make ends meet, there are just one or two who will come out of the summer in distinctly better circumstances than the others.
One of those is Real Madrid.
Opting against spending heavy (or at all) on their La Liga-winning squad, Zinedine Zidane's side have instead turned their attentions towards boosting the bank balance with a swathe of player exits.
Players who've all made careers by working their way through Los Blancos' academy haven't just earned Madrid some money, as the sales of this summer window will equate to no less than €100m worth of profit, as per AS.
How did they manage that? This is how.
1. Javi Sánchez
Joined: Real Valladolid
Fee: €3m
Martinez only made a handful of appearances for the senior squad after breaking through the youth set-up, although one of those did come in a Champions League clash against CSKA Moscow.
He joined Valladolid on loan and made just one outing before the move was made permanent.
2. Miguel Baeza Pérez
Joined: Celta Vigo
Fee: €3m
The attacking midfielder, more commonly known simply as Baeza, joined Celta Vigo back in August with plenty of hype surrounding him, despite not making a senior appearances for his previous employers.
3. Dani Gómez
Joined: Levante
Fee: €2.5m
22-year-old forward Gomez is another Castilla product who has leaves the capital without a senior call up to his name. Spending last season on loan at Tenerife, he joined Levante in July.
4. Jorge de Frutos
Joined: Levante
Fee: €2.5m
Joining Gomez in moving to Levante is De Frutos, who had spent the two loan spells away from the Santiago Bernabeu prior to making the move south east.
5. Javi Hernández
Joining: Levante
Fee: €0.5m
This deal is yet to come off but Hernández is expected to be the third player from Madrid to move to Levante this window.
6. Diego Llorente
Joined: Leeds
Fee: €4.2m
Llorente moved to the Premier League from Real Sociedad, but Los Blancos ensured they would receive money from any potential sale by inserting a sell on clause in the deal.
His move to Yorkshire cost Leeds in the region of £18m.
7. Óscar Rodríguez
Joined: Sevilla
Fee: €15m
Making just the solitary senior display for Madrid having worked his way up through the youth ranks, Rodriguez's sale to Sevilla earned Zidane and co a tidy profit.
In doing so they inherited a winger who has just broken into the senior Spanish squad, making two outings in the recent Nations League clashes.
8. Sergio Reguilón
Joined: Tottenham
Fee: €30m
Europa League winner Reguilon was interesting a number of sides this window, although it was Spurs who took the bite by accepting the addition of a buyback clause in his contract.
Manchester United were in the hunt, as were previous temporary employers Sevilla.
9. Achraf Hakimi
Joined: Inter
Fee: €40m
Madrid's biggest profit of the summer came from the sale of Hakimi to Inter. The Moroccan spent the last two seasons on loan at Borussia Dortmund, putting in some excellent displays down the right flank.
He leaves La Liga having made 17 outings for the club and scoring two goals.