Everything changed since Neymar Jr’s transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, for a record fee of 222 million. Till then the record was that of Paul Pogba’s move to Manchester United in 2016, with a fee of 105 million. But the new record was set a year later, with the fee almost doubled. And that transfer caused severe inflation in the transfer market.
The worth of every player with one fantastic season behind his back, irrespective of his age, was worth more than 100 million. AS Monaco had demanded 180 million from Real Madrid for a then 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe. To think that a teenager with relatively lesser experience was worth 150 million-plus, while a player like Cristiano Ronaldo cost 90 million for the club shows how the transfer market had changed.
Florentino Perez had anticipated this inflation beforehand, and he started his ‘Youth investment’ policy. The club always signed youngsters here and there, but since the mid-2010s the club made youth investment policy their main priority. Getting talent for relatively lesser money was the club’s objective. Out of the current pool of U-23 players, Fede Valverde is the earliest signing and he was signed for 5 million in 2016 and returned to the first team in 2018 after a stint with Castilla and Deportivo La Coruna on loan.
Marco Asensio, Martin Ødegaard, Fede Valverde, Eder Militao, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes, Brahim Diaz, Luka Jovic, Takefusa Kubo, Reinier Jesus, and many more youth players (for the academy) were recruited in the process. With an ageing core in the squad, the onus is upon these youngsters to replace the old-guard.
Some of these players have failed to live up to the expectations so far, while some have been inconsistent. but few players have been very impressive and made the most out of the chances they got. So let’s have a look at three such players around whom the team can be built, and lead the transition of Real Madrid.