Real Madrid fly to US with bundle of home-grown talent
Julen Lopetegui has chosen nine products of 'La Fabrica' (The Factory) in his 32-man sqaud, while Vinicius and De Tomas could make their debuts in the United States.
Julen Lopetegui has chosen quite a lot of home-grown talent in his 32-man squad for the preseason tour of the United States. Nine of the squad are products of the youth academy and have been called up from Real Madrid Castilla (the reserve team that plays in Second Division B). The nine youngsters spent the last few days training with Lopetegui’s side ahead of the trip.
Also among the 32 is Isco, who trained for the first time this Saturday before the team, led by captain Sergio Ramos, boarded the plane to Miami.
Four goalkeepers will participate on the US tour. Keylor Navas will be backed by Kiko Casilla, Luca Zidane and newly-arrived Andriy Lunin, who was unveiled earlier this week. Five strikers make the trip: Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Borja Mayoral, Raul de Tomas and Vinicius. A product of Castilla, De Tomas has returned to Real Madrid after having spent three seasons on loan and could make his debut for the first team in the US, as could new signing Vinicius, who was officially presented at the Bernabeu last week.
From the youth academy, known as ‘La Fabrica’ (The Factory), Lopetegui has chosen six defenders (full backs Reguilón, Quezada y Sergio López, and center backs León, De la Fuente and Javi Sánchez) and three central midfielders, Oscar, Seoane and Feuillassier, who also travelled on the preseason tour last year.
No Varane, Modric or Kovavic
Outgoing Theo Hernandez also joins the squad as negotiations for his loan move to Real Sociedad continue. The only three first team players to miss the trip are Rafael Varane, Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic, who are still enjoying vacation after having competed in the World Cup final in Russia.
The full squad list for the US tour is as follows: Navas, Casilla, Luca Zidane, Lunin, Carvajal, Vallejo, Ramos, Nacho, Theo, Odriozola, Reguilón, Quezada, Sergio López, Javi Sánchez, De la Fuente, León, Kroos, Marcos Llorente, Asensio, Isco, Ceballos, Odegaard, Valverde, Seoane, Óscar, Feuillassier, Benzema, Bale, Lucas Vázquez, Mayoral, De Tomás y Vinicius.
