How much have Real Madrid made in transfers since Cristiano Ronaldo left?
Since Cristiano Ronaldo left for Juventus in 2018, Real Madrid have pocketed €584 million in transfer fees.
Casemiro’s departure from Real Madrid, beyond the Brazilian being a key player for Carlo Ancelotti and one of the best defensive midfielders in the world today, provided a nice economic windfall for the Bernabéu board: €72 million plus €13m in add-ons. Packing Casemiro off to Manchester United continued a recent trend at Madrid, where big-money galáctico signings have made way for gradual development through investment in youth, and in recent years Madrid have become a selling team. Since Cristiano Ronaldo left for Juventus in 2018, Real Madrid have made €584m euros. Before the end of the summer window, Marco Asensio, Álvaro Odriozola and Mariano could also be sold.
Madrid’s gradual rebuild
The reality is that outgoing transfers at Madrid have not operations involving huge amounts of money. Beyond Ronaldo, who was sold for €117m, only the transfer of Mateo Kovacic (€45m), Achraf Hakimi(€43m), Raphaël Varane (€40) and Casemiro have exceeded €40 million. Largely, Madrid’s income has derived from players who were not seen as important parts of the respective squads that Zinedine Zidane and Ancelotti have had in recent season. Moreover, of the 31 players who have been sold or loaned since Ronaldo’s departure, only the Portuguese, Varane and Casemiro were undisputed starters.
Real Madrid fringe players going on to shine elsewhere
The majority of the sales Madrid have made over the timeframe have been profitable for the Bernabéu board, but often also for the players themselves. Martin Ødegaard (€35m), Theo Hernández (€21.5m) and Marcos Llorente (€30m) are all examples of players who did not quite make the grade at Madrid - either due to lack of confidence, injuries or a lack of opportunity - but went on to find success elsewhere. Madrid have also done good business in the loan market, with 13 players being sent out for a season or two since 2018 and most of theose commanding a loan fee of around €2m.
And there may yet be more outgoing transfers this summer. Odriozola is expected to leave, Asensio has been linked with a move to Italy and has fallen out of favour at the Bernabéu in a World Cup year while Mariano has never broken into the first-team set-up on a regular basis and wants to find a starting role elsewhere. Those three players could command in the region of €100m combined, capping another summer of profit at the club.