From one dynasty to another. This is what has made Real Madrid strong throughout its history. And even if the club from the Spanish capital has sometimes gone through less successful periods, the club’s mentality is mainly centered around big football stars who come to win titles in Madrid. Following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer of 2018, the Merengues needed to reinvent themselves. Spearhead of the great Real Madrid of the last decade, the Portuguese won 4 Champions Leagues during his time in central Spain. To keep the Santiago-Bernabeu residents competitive, Florentino Perez then had a clear idea: bring back promising young players in order to help them grow alongside Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
This is how Vinicius joined the club in 2018, followed by Eder Militao and Rodrygo in 2019. The three Brazilians all experienced a similar journey: timid beginnings before gaining complete confidence and becoming indisputable starters in their positions under the led by Carlo Ancelotti. Even if Rodrygo was a supersub savior during the quest for the Champions League in 2022, Eder Militao and Vinicius were executives in the squad of the former PSG coach. This is also the case for Federico Valverde who joined Castilla in 2016 before exploding under the white tunic during the 2019-2020 season, this time under the aegis of Zinedine Zidane. In the same vein as Rodrygo, Camavinga, arrived from Rennes, was the author of remarkable entries into play during his team’s European epic in 2022 while he is now one of the most useful players in the eyes of Ancelotti and one of the most appreciated by Real Madrid supporters.
The seven wonders of Real Madrid
The last two key pieces added to this ambitious project were expensive, but are already proving to be preponderant in the eyes of the Italian technician. Recruited last summer from Monaco, Aurélien Tchouaméni is already the boss of the Madrid midfielder while Jude Bellingham, who arrived this summer in Madrid, could almost be considered the best player in the world at the moment. Beyond their great integration into the Real project and the bright future that all its recruits promise to the club, fourteen times winner of the Champions League, these 7 players were also nice financial coups carried out by the Madrid management. Indeed, even if Tchouaméni and Bellingham were recruited for 80 and 100 million euros respectively, the other players on this list were recruited at modest sums given their current value.
Thus, 45 million euros had been paid for Camavinga and Vinicius while Real Madrid had paid 40 million euros to Porto and Santos to get their hands on Eder Militao and Rodrygo. For his part, Federico Valverde, recruited very young, only cost the Merengues 5 million euros. Today, these 7 players are worth 710 million euros according to Transfermarkt. A far cry from the 355 million euros that were invested in their arrivals. Add to that Endrick, recruited for 45 million euros and who will arrive next summer, and you will obtain one of the most exciting and advanced projects on youth. Healthy finances, nuggets already at the level and even better in the years to come, Real Madrid’s plan seems to be a pure success on all points.
