In Spain, when we talk about training, we necessarily think of FC Barcelona. No need to come back to the quantity of nuggets released by the Barcelona Academy in recent years, and everything indicates that new extraordinary players will come out of the ranks of the Masia in the years to come. Behind, the two Basque clubs that are the Athletic Club and Real Sociedad also have a very good rating, and clearly contributed to the success of La Roja during the last Euro with players like Unai Simon, Aymeric Laporte, Robin Le Normand, Martín Zubimendi, Mikel Oyarzabal and Nico Williams among others. Real Madrid is also an example of a productive training center. Even if some merengues fans believe that Carlo Ancelotti does not give young people from La Fabrica with Asencio as an exception, many of them shine through Europe currently, like Nico Paz, Alex Jimenez or Mario Gila. On the other hand, there is a training center which does not necessarily have much to envy the clubs mentioned above and of which we speak very little: that of Celta de Vigo.
If the exploits of Iago Aspas have terrorized Liga fans for more than a decade already, the Galician club has made a very good season – eighth in the Liga ranking at a European position point – with a team made up mainly of young people trained at the club. Each weekend, the team has 6 to 7 players trained in A Madroa (the name of the club's training center) in its eleven holder. And this, when last year, Rafa Benitez, then coach of Celta, had for the first time for the past 15 years aligned an eleven without the slightest player for the club at the end of February, against Almeria. How to explain this turnaround? First, it should still be noted that the absence of canteranos In this match was above all a competition of circumstances with injuries and suspensions, and that Celta has always been a club strong on the young people of the house. This is not a financial question, since the Galician club still has certain means, and this bet on training is not linked to possible precariousness. But this phenomenon has accentuated even more when the management entrusted the keys to the truck to Claudio Giráldez last March.
The new Guardiola on the bench
Former player trained in Real Madrid who then had a modest career in several Galician clubs, the 37 -year -old coach who is also the youngest coach of the Liga then launched his career on the benches in Celta. After having directed the U19s on the 2021/2022 season and made a and a half season with Celta team B, it was quickly propelled into the main bath in March 2024, necessarily aroused some fears about fans and observers. But very quickly, the good results gleaned by the band of Oscar Mingueza dispelled the doubts, while the supporters have eaten their black bread since the start of the season with Rafa Benitez. Inevitably, there have been comparisons with Pep Guardiola, and the similarities between the two men go far beyond their nonexistent hair style. In the philosophy of play first, with the desire to have control over the ball and to play rather offensive. A daring 3-4-3 which aims to multiply the attacks and hurt the opponent, and which allows the ball players to have freedoms to have fun on the field. But also in this way of wanting to control everything and pay attention to the smallest detail. Interminable video sessions, varied filmed training sessions which differ depending on the opponent, and the Spanish press explains that Giraldez goes so far as to analyze the referee and the way the opponent sprinkles his field before each outdoor match.
Above all, Giraldez calls a lot to young people, having already started 6 players from Celta B which he had under his orders with the A. The Celta is the seventh young Liga workforce this season, and in reality, this statistic is a bit “distorted” by the presence of three veterans tauliers in the workforce: Iago Aspas (37), Marcos Alonso (34) and Vicente Guaaita (34) years). Among the players from A Madroa the most interesting, we find the midfielder Hugo Sotelo (21), the central defenders Javi Rodriguez (21) and Yoel Lago (20), the winger Hugo Alvarez (21) or the striker Pablo Duran (23). Beyond the young empowers and clearly put in confidence, Claudio Giraldez also knew how to relaunch certain players a little hard. Oscar Mingueza quickly asserted himself as one of the best side in Liga to the point of being regularly called in the Spanish selection now. Ilaix Moriba, a former nugget of the Masia who had struggled since his departure from Barça, finds colors, while the scorer trained at the Borja Iglesias club, returned after an adventure in Betis, is also in the process of finding a good level.
In Madroa, a source of income for the years to come
“You are doing things well, and you are young”blowed Carlo Ancelotti in Giraldez after the Madrid victory in Vigo last October (2-1). The work of the Galician coach does not leave anyone indifferent, and it is clearly one of the best rated coaches in the country. A bet that turns out to be paying, and behind these good results of Celta, it is also necessary to highlight the work of the trainers of A Madroa, where we mix technological innovations (we use AI a lot) and traditional training methods. If fans feast on themselves, club leaders are also rubbing their hands … In recent years, Celta has been criticized for not showing enough ambition, too often leaving its best players, with fairly mediocre results everything being considered a club having the potential to fight for a qualification in Europe every year. The explosion of young people from the training center could thus be a sacred source of income for the club, which for example sold Gabi Veiga for 35 million euros in 2023.
In the space of three months, the Celta staff saw its value increase by 10% on the site Transfermarktand there is no doubt that next summer, many clubs will come to knock on the door. The sidelining of the highly criticized sports advisor Luis Campos in December 2023 could possibly suggest a turning point, but another well -known man of the transfer market is being made a place in Vigo: Jorge Mendes. The Portuguese Supervisor has thus signed several young Celta players, including the iron striker Lopez (20 years old), who is already playing with the first team, Pablo Aparicio, 16 -year -old attacker as well as Mateo Sobral, 16 -year -old midfielder. Celta is therefore likely to be a victim of its success from the next summer transfer window, even if a European qualification could push the best elements of the team to stay a little longer. And Claudio Giraldez is also likely to be very coveted …
