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3 hours ago
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Post-training has become a major issue for European clubs in recent years. Faced with price inflation and increasingly increased competition on the transfer market, the biggest European teams no longer hesitate to pick up players aged 15 to 18 from other clubs, some being young shoots without the slightest experience, others having already started in the professional world. Manchester City has just put more than 40 million euros on the table for Vitor Reis, an 18-year-old central defender who has only around ten professional matches with Palmeiras.
Real Madrid is also quite fond of this type of recruitment, and has in its squad players who arrived from other clubs at a fairly early age, like Vinicius Jr, Fede Valverde, Andriy Lunin, Endrick or Arda Güler to name just a few. A policy assumed by Florentino Pérez, who no longer necessarily wants to enter into excessive auction races for experienced players and prefers to look for young people or players at the end of their contract. At the helm, we find Juni Calafat, head of scouting of the club and a fine connoisseur of the Brazilian market in particular. And in recent weeks, without it necessarily being widely publicized, the club from the Spanish capital has enlisted very promising young people.
The defense of the future already assured?
Real Madrid has just acquired central defender Lamini Fati, to whom it has offered a five-year contract, a sign that the Madrilenians predict a bright future for him. The 18-year-old who previously played for the Leganés youth team has thus come to strengthen the Merengues C team, and he is considered a player who can potentially be promoted to the A in the coming years. Several big Spanish clubs were on board. This week, the Madrilenians have just acquired Joel Pleguezuelos, from the Espanyol U19s. A particularly powerful 18-year-old central defender, he was coveted by FC Barcelona. It is far too dangerous to say that Fati and Pleguezuelos will form the central hinge of Real Madrid in a few years, but it is in any case clearly to prepare the future for this position that they were enlisted.
Waiting for them to explode with the first teams of Leganés or Espanyol could have resulted in the appearance of other clubs and a surge in their price, whereas by recruiting them now, Real Madrid has only paid a pittance and will have no losses to deplore even if both players flop. At the same time, the club is also working on the arrival of Malaga attacking midfielder Antoñito Cordero (18 years old), considered one of the country's biggest prospects and who is already proving himself in Spanish D2. A player who is also highly coveted by Barça. Either way, there is no doubt: Real Madrid is preparing for the future…
Written by:
Manu Tournoux is a passionate and knowledgeable football enthusiast with a special focus on French football. Born and raised in France, Manu discovered his love for the beautiful game at a young age and developed a deep understanding of the ins and outs of "Le Championnat." His French roots and extensive experience in football journalism have made him an invaluable asset to the French Football Weekly team.
 
 As an author for the website, Manu's expertise includes not only in-depth analysis of Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 matches but also insightful profiles of up-and-coming talents, detailed transfer news, and engaging coverage of the French national team. His captivating writing style and undeniable passion for the game have earned him a loyal following among our readers.
 
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