Real Madrid News
Real Madrid lost out on €14 million after former academy star’s transfer fell off last summer
La Fabrica and Real Madrid Castilla serve as a stepping stone for young talents to break into the first team, but Los Blancos’ spending capacity and ability to bring in big names often force talents to leave.
Over the years, the Real Madrid academy has thus transformed into a factory producing talents for external clubs as the men in white pocket significant revenue from the resulting sales.
One such young player who left the club in recent years for greener pastures was Sergio Arribas. The talented attacking midfielder departed Real Madrid over two years ago, signing for Almeria for a fee of €6 million with €1 million in add-ons.
Real Madrid’s dismay
At the time of finalising Arribas’ exit, Real Madrid inserted a clause by which they retained 50% of the player’s rights and thus, half of any future transfer fee when the player leaves Almeria.
As relayed by AS in a recent report, Arribas was very close to making such a move last summer with Al Ahli from Saudi Arabia seriously interested in his signing.
The player was offered a salary of €10 million per season and Almeria would have received a staggering transfer fee of €28 million for the same.
Despite being very close to completing the deal, however, Arribas did not join the Middle East-based club as the transfer did not materialise. Real Madrid, who were entitled to €14 million of the €28 million, thus lost out on the significant sum.
While Real Madrid will not rue having lost out on the sum, it would have been a massive financial aid for them to have pocketed that sum. The Merengues will thus hope that the player continues to impress this season and attracts suitors for the upcoming window.
Real Madrid opted to renew Antonio Rudiger’s contract this past summer to keep him at the club for one more season.
The 33-year-old veteran defender, though, has not been performing at his best, with physical problems taking their toll and age starting to catch up with him.
As such, the expectation is that Los Blancos will not extend his contract again when his current one expires on 30 June 2027.
Tottenham eye Antonio Rudiger
And, according to reports relayed by AS, Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur are plotting a free-transfer swoop to sign Rudiger in the summer of next year.
The north London club are understood to be keen on reinforcing their backline next year and see the German defender as an option, given his experience in the Premier League and the fact that he would be available for free in the summer.
So far this season, Rudiger has played only five games for Real Madrid, amounting to a total of 396 minutes.
The 33-year-old has even chipped in with two goals, including the all-important winner in the 4-3 comeback victory over AS Roma on Wednesday night.
Time to move on?
Despite Rudiger being a hugely respected figure in the Real Madrid locker room, he is currently the third-choice centre-back for Jose Mourinho.
After all, summer signing Ibrahima Konate and Dean Huijsen have been preferred by the manager so far in the new season.
Moreover, with Eder Militao set to return imminently after a lengthy injury layoff, Rudiger’s game-time could be impacted further.
Given the situation and factoring in Real Madrid’s plans to sign another centre-back next summer, it is pretty much evident that Rudiger does not feature in the club’s plans for beyond this season.
As such, a separation of ways seems pretty likely when his contract expires, and Tottenham are now positioning themselves as early suitors to sign Rudiger as a free agent in 2027.
