Real Madrid News
Masters of the market: Real Madrid have signed the youngest players in the last decade
One of the biggest reasons why Real Madrid remain one of the most successful clubs in Europe is due to their astute recruitment.
Just this summer, Los Blancos dealt with the exit of a legendary figure such as Casemiro by having already brought in Aurelien Tchouameni, who has shown signs that he could surpass his predecessor.
A study by the CIES Observatory, as relayed by Mundo Deportivo, has showcased why the European champions stay are masters in the transfer market.
A key reason behind the aforementioned statement is because Real Madrid have signed players at the average age of 22.87 in the last ten years.
No club in the top five European leagues have signed players as young as Carlo Ancelotti’s side during this period.
It has also been revealed that Los Merengues have not signed a single player over the age of 30 in the past ten years as well — being the only side in Europe’s top five leagues not to do so.
A whopping 62.8% of Real Madrid’s signings have belonged in the age bracket between 22 and 25, with 18.6% being 18 or youngster and the remaining players between 26 and 29 years old.
Behind the La Liga champions sit German giants Borussia Monchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund, who sign players at an average of 23.36 and 23.57 respectively.
Fellow Spanish club Real Sociedad are ranked sixth (23.9) in this list of teams, while arch rivals Barcelona sit 13th (24.9).
The signs of Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr. in recent years indicates that Real Madrid will continue to build for the future, as the club’s success in the long-term seems to be a key part of their strategy at all times.
In what could be a real deal breaker for Real Madrid ahead of their Copa del Rey semi-final second leg clash against Barcelona, it has been revealed that as many as three Barça will be absent from the game while another key player remains a major doubt.
The list includes the likes of Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Andreas Christensen. The trio is certain to miss the game through respective injuries while a certain Frenkie de Jong is more or less ruled out, as per Javi Miguel.
It must be remembered that Barcelona are heading into the second leg with a 1-0 advantage. But the absence of the aforementioned players means Madrid can work on exploiting the frailties.
Despite the absence of such big names, Barcelona did pretty well against Elche in their previous outing, coming out 4-0 victorious, with the goals coming from Robert Lewandowski, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.
With options lacking in midfield, Xavi decided to use the likes of Sergi Roberto and Eric Garcia along with Gavi in the heart of the lineup. In any way, they do have Sergio Busquets and Franck Kessie as backups if needed.
The defence, on the other hand, was perfectly guarded by Jordi Alba, Marcos Alonso, Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde.
One can expect Xavi to once again interchange Araujo with Kounde on the right since the Uruguayan has been rather successful in minimizing the threat of Vinicius Jr.
As far as Madrid are concerned, they are sweating over the fitness of three key defenders, namely, Antonio Rudiger, Nacho, and Ferland Mendy. Between these three, the Frenchman is out for about a month while Rudiger and Nacho are expected to be back before the Clasico.
If there are no casualties against Real Valladolid, Madrid will have a perfect midfield and attack, with only Mariano Diaz missing.
