Wait until they are 18 years old.
It is the trick that has made Real Madrid so good.
The Spaniards have bought the world‘s most exciting attack in the form of Rodrygo, Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham, a trio that will take the team to a third league title in five years. The stable is the third most valuable in the world.
Real Madrid has built this stable with a net consumption that amounts to change.
And for that they can partly thank Martin Ødegaard.
Neither A nor B
The signing of Ødegaard showed Real Madrid what they does not should do.
In 2015, the drummer went to Real Madrid shortly after he turned 16. The Spanish giants wanted the prestige that came with acquiring one of the world‘s most talked about talents, and for Ødegaard the choice was clear: “Real Madrid is Real Madrid”.
Ødegaard later admitted that the plan did not work.
LEAVE EARLY: Martin Ødegaard chose Real Madrid as his first destination out of Norway.
Photo: Alberto Saiz / AP
The plan was for him to train with the A team, and play matches for the B team at level three. Last year he told the website The Players’ Tribune that he did not settle down in any of the places.
He was not often enough with the B team to find chemistry with his teammates, and on the A team he was “just a boy who came to train”.
Ødegaard was too young for one team and too good for the other. He fell between two chairs.
When he left Real Madrid permanently in 2021, he had made 11 appearances for the A team in six and a half years. For Real Madrid, Ødegaard was a failure.
So the Spanish adjusted their tactics.
Buy now, collect later
They knew that the idea behind the purchase of Ødegaard was good.
Real Madrid wanted a star cheap by signing him early. The problem was that Ødegaard came to Spain before he was ready, so Real Madrid started to purchase talents who were 16 years old … and then picked up of them later.
In May 2017, they signed Vinícius Júnior when he was 16. Vinícius stayed with Brazilian club Flamengo the following season, before making his debut for Real Madrid in August 2018, just after turning 18.
When he came to Madrid, Vinícius was good enough for the A team.
Vinícius was a risk for Real Madrid, because no one knows if young players from South America adapt to the elite of European football. It is safer if they come from another club in Europe. But then they cost more.
In 2017, Real Madrid got Vinícius for NOK 410 million.
Vinícius is now worth NOK 1.7 billion, according to the website Transfer market.
HOT: Vinicius Junior has delivered a stellar season for Real Madrid so far.
Photo: Jose Breton / AP
In 2018, Real Madrid brought in another Brazilian, Rodrygo, in the same way: They bought him early, let him stay in Brazil and brought him to Spain when he was 18. The same will apply to Endrick, a new comet from Brazil, who will Madrid this summer.
Strictly speaking, Real Madrid must wait for these talents, because they cannot sign players from South America who are under 18 years old. But even if they had been allowed, it would have made sense to leave the Brazilians in their homeland, and it is possible that they would have waited anyway.
Since Ødegaard, Real Madrid has not brought in more European great talents who are under the age of 18, even though they are allowed.
Eduardo Camavinga made his debut when he was 18.
Aurélien Tchouaméni var 22.
Jude Bellingham was 20.
We can also include Arda Güler, the “Turkish Messi”, who came to Madrid last summer at the age of 18.
Real Madrid have learned. They are done with talents that are for young.
Great talents rise in value. Recently found Football Benchmark out that Real Madrid is number 10 on the list of net spending on player purchases in the last decade. Nevertheless, Real Madrid has the stable with the third highest value in the world.
Photo: Screenshot / X
That’s what you call good business.
But wait… isn’t that what Real Madrid usually use most money?
Young galactic
It was like that for a long time. Real Madrid love to pick up galacticthe biggest names in the world.
They have been making such purchases since the 1950s, when president Santiago Bernabéu secured one star each summer and built the world‘s best team. In the stands sat a young Florentino Pérez, who became president himself in 2000, and who has created two galactic-teams with names like Luís Figo, Zinédine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo.
But these teams have not always worked, and they have been costly.
LEGEND: Luis Figo, here from his time at Real Madrid.
Foto: DESMOND BOYLAN / Reuters
Now Pérez cannot afford to spend more than the rest. He is renovating the stadium at a price tag of around NOK 20 billion, interest included, and even though Real Madrid earns the most in the world, they have to tighten up.
They have still picked up one star per year, but all have been young.
2018: Vinícius Júnior
2019: Rodrygo
2021: Eduardo Camavinga
2022: Aurélien Tchouaméni
2023: Jude Bellingham
2024: Endrick
Not all have been cheap either: Bellingham and Tchouaméni both cost more than one billion kroner. But the gang from Brazil has been around half of that sum, and since 2019 Real Madrid has barely spent money on player purchases beyond this list.
YOUNG, BUT BIG: Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior will probably mark world football for another 15 years.
Photo: ISABEL INFANTES / Reuters
Defensive veterans such as David Alaba and Antonio Rüdiger have arrived for free.
A real one galactic may appear this summer in the form of Kylian Mbappé (25), who will demand a juicy salary, but he too will be brought in without a transfer fee.
In addition, Real Madrid have received good money for Cristiano Ronaldo (33), Raphaël Varane (28) and Casemiro (30).
Buy before they go good, sell before they go bad.
Why doesn’t everyone do the same?
Fire feller
Because Real Madrid have avoided some traps that have befallen their rivals.
1) They haven’t bought players approaching their 30s. They last burned themselves on this in 2019, when they bought Eden Hazard. This is in contrast to a team like Manchester United, who have brought in Ronaldo, Varane and Casemiro.
2) They haven’t done too much at once. The talents have arrived one by one, so that the stable has maintained stability and continuity. This is in contrast to Chelsea, who in practice have brought in a new stable within two years.
3) They have not sold out the routine. The speed of Rodrygo and Vinícius is combined with established strategists such as Luka Modrić and Toni Kroos.
4) They haven’t missed. Since 2019, they have hit the nail on the head with every major transfer.
Avoiding these four traps requires patience, discipline and careful planning. Real Madrid has gone from being megalomaniacal to super smart, and the strategy around the Brazilian talents has been a fundamental piece.
In this sense, Real Madrid has gained a part from Ødegaard’s transfer nevertheless.
He who was supposed to be a star has paved the way for others.
NRK clarifies: The commentary has been updated with clarification that Real Madrid is not allowed to bring in players from outside Europe who are under 18 years of age.
Published 17.04.2024, at 11.28 Updated 17.04.2024, at 16.26