Real Madrid News
Real Madrid legend’s daughter joins the club’s La Fabrica youth academy
The “father to daughter” football legacy is becoming an increasingly common sight, with more and more girls given the opportunity to play the sport professionally from a young age, particularly when raised around it.
Real Madrid’s youth academy has already produced several such examples. Now, Ema Modric, daughter of club legend Luka Modric, has become the latest to join La Fabrica.
Ema Modric arrives at Valdebebas
As reported by AS, the 13-year-old, who previously stood out at AC Milan’s youth academy, has joined the club’s Cadete (U16) side.
Merry Christmas! 🎅🏻🎄❤️🙏 pic.twitter.com/giC6frAbBj
— Luka Modrić (@lukamodric10) December 25, 2020
The team kicked off their pre-season on Tuesday with their first training session at Pitch 10 of Real Madrid City, beginning with mobility exercises before moving on to passing and possession drills.
The side, who will compete in the First Regional Cadet Division of the Community of Madrid this season, are led by Hector Bueno, assisted by Estefania Lopez, with Luis Palomeque as physical trainer and Antonio Marin as goalkeeping coach.
This is not Ema’s first experience wearing Real Madrid colours. Born in Madrid in 2013, she previously played for Madrid CFF up until Alevin level, the club boasting Europe’s largest girls’ academy.
This was before Real Madrid’s own girls’ setup, which only begins at Cadete level, became an option.
Following a growing trend
Ema’s arrival continues a pattern that has become increasingly familiar at Real Madrid in recent years.
Maria Gonzalez, daughter of club icon Raul Gonzalez, joined the Cadete team back in 2022 and has been prolific ever since, scoring 47 goals last season alone, including a recent strike against Manchester City in Shanghai.
The reserve squad has also featured Bibiana Casquero and Dolo Delgado, daughters of former professionals Javier Casquero and Matias Delgado, while Roberto Carlos’ daughter, Manuela da Silva, previously represented the Cadete side as well.
Meanwhile, Modric was briefly linked with a return to Real Madrid in the summer as part of the club’s coaching staff. But the move did not materialise.
Real Madrid News
Jose Mourinho was always clear about getting rid of Real Madrid midfielder this summer – report
Real Madrid’s summer transfer window was largely successful, not only in terms of securing key arrivals but also in terms of letting go of players who had no place in the dynamics.
One player who stood out in the second category was Dani Ceballos as the Spanish midfielder was frozen out of Real Madrid’s starting dynamics for several years before his eventual departure.
In the end, the club simply let the player leave as a free agent by accepting a contract termination as they saw the salary space freed as a win compared to his presence.
Mourinho’s clear stance
As confirmed in a recent report by Diario AS, Real Madrid’s new manager Jose Mourinho has no doubt that he did not count on Ceballos for the ongoing season.
Being the straightforward communicator that he is, the Portuguese manager directly informed Ceballos that he did not count on him in any capacity, speaking out loud about a fact that was known as an open secret for a long time.
Having clarity that his situation at the club was not going to change, Ceballos pressed to leave and eventually had his way as the club allowed him to walk out of the front door with no transfer fee.
Times were tense
The Spanish outlet also add that the decision to let the player leave with a contract termination was not easy for Real Madrid to accept, especially given that it is a last resort.
In the negotiations between Ceballos and the Real Madrid hierarchy, there were some moments filled with tension and disagreements.
In fact, there was even an initial exit agreement that was reached which was cancelled in the hope of a better outcome.
Eventually, however, both parties reached a fitting resolution and Real Madrid enabled the player’s departure without any hurdles and Ceballos went on to join Real Betis.
Even that move required the player to take a massive cut on his salary, but the saga worked out well for both clubs as the player. From Real Madrid’s perspective, the space created on the team’s roster was worth its weight in gold.
