Real Madrid to cash in on homegrown academy players
Real Madrid hope to bring in 100 million euros this summer by selling more of their academy players - Borja Mayoral, Reguilón, Mariano and Óscar...
For Real Madrid, the youth team has always been a valuable source of income - and even more so now during the economic downturn due to the coronavirus crisis. The club won't be making any big signings this summer and will be focusing on selling players to ensure their books remain healthy. With Gareth Bale being practically impossible to sell because of his astronomical wages and his refusal to leave, Madrid will be looking at whatever they can get for James and players who have come up through La Fábrica. After selling Achraf Hakimi to Inter Milan for 40 million euros and Javi Sánchez to Valladolid (three million for 50% of his economic rights), there are four players who learned their craft in Valdebebas who will be moving on - Mariano, Sergio Reguilón, Borja Mayoral and Óscar Rodríguez. In total, Madrid are looking to make it a record summer in terms of sales, and bring in around 100 million euros...
Madrid's most profitable year in terms of selling academy players was 2017. Five players left that summer - Álvaro Morata to Chelsea, Mariano to Olympique Lyon, Diego Llorente to Real Sociedad, Burgui to Alavés and Álvaro to Getafe. Those transfers brought in a total of 98 million euros and Madrid could surpass that figure this summer.
The first to depart is most likely to be Borja Mayoral who, as this newspaper reported recently, is valued at 15 million euros; he was close to joining Valencia at one point and now is on Lazio's radar, with Villarreal also hopeful they can secure his services. Mayoral is now in the final year of his contract with Madrid and has been loaned out three times (Wolfsburg and twice to Levante) which means that he will definitely be moving on. His future could be resolved by the end of this week. Madrid are hoping for a similar outcome with Mariano whose departure will hand Luka Jovic a second chance with the first team. Mariano's situation is a little more complex - the club tried to convince him to leave last summer but a move never materialised. The same thing happened during the January transfer window. His high wages (4.2M million euros after tax) remains an obstacle and on top of that, he doesn't want to leave....
Offers on the table for 'Regui' and Óscar
Madrid are more confident that Reguilón and Óscar Rodríguez will find new homes - both players enjoyed successful loan spells last season (at Sevilla and Leganés respectively). Now it has bee confirmed that Marcelo will continue and with Ferland Mendy progressing well, Regui has been left with no options of entering the team. PSG are keen to take him. His excellent season on loan at Sevilla, where he played 34 games, scored a couple of goals and set up another four, plus his young age all make him an attractive proposal for many clubs in Spain and Europe.
Recently, Madrid have been allowing players to join other clubs on shared ownership arrangements. That was the method used to sell Javi Sánchez to Valladolid and they hope to sell Óscar Rodríguez in the same way after his brilliant season at Butarque (he scored nine goals for Leganés last season). That would mean Madrid would be able to negotiate buying him back at a future date or receive half of the transfer fee if he is sold to another club. Madrid have been sounding out Bundesliga club and are hoping to get at least 10 million euros for him.