Real Madrid's academy is a gold mine

Real Madrid's academy, or La Fábrica as it is known, is a gold mine. There is plenty of talent in the first team squad (Carvajal, Nacho, Lucas Vázquez, Mariano...) who took their first steps at underage level at the club and those who can't find their place provide a very useful source of income. The club have earned €245 million in the last decade on the sale of 28 academy players.

A generous sum considering that is the price of a gálactico in the current market. The same figure, €245 million, surpasses Barcelona €155 million earned from academy talent but does fall shy of Atlético Madrid's whopping €305 million earned from their underage structure. They have sold Marcos Llorente recently to add to that figure along with Raul de Tomas to Benfica to add and they will also sell Mayoral soon. We have to wait and see what happens with Nacho and Lucas Vázquez, who both have offers to leave on the table.

La Fabrica a highly profitable investment

La Fabrica is so profitable that it runs itself. According to the club's account for 2017-18, it cost €17.8 for the year in player's and coaches' wages. With the sale of Marcos Llorente alone, the club could run for almost three years.

The club are not just relying on the sale of players leaving Real Madrid. They also earn money with their right to repurchase players. For example, Mascarell, who Real Madrid bought back for €4 million before selling him to Schalke almost immediately for €10 million. An almost identical situation was the purchase of Lucas Torró for €1.75 million before the sold him on to Eintracht for almost double that fee.

Loan deals are also a source of income. Óscar Rodríguez, who left for Leganés last season to gain experience, earned them €600,000. The next one to earn the club money on loan will be Sergio Regilon, who has joined Sevilla. A third way of increasing profit is the money made from players who were developed at the academy only to move on. In the last few years players like Marcos Alonso, Fabinho and Álvaro Morata all brought in money having spent time during the earlier stages at their careers at Valdebebas.

A special case is that of Morata. He left and came back to Madrid after signing for Juventus in 2014 for €22 million. Madrid bought him back for €30 million and one summer later sold him to Chelsea for €80 million - a record for an academy player. He has earned the club €72 million in total after a number of moves during his career.

One key element in the development of the academy was the contruction of living quarters. The project was finished in 2014 where 50 players can study and live. On the walls of the residency hang pictures of Di Stéfano, Zidane and Carvajal. References for all of the academy.