Real Madrid’s five worst loan deals of the last five years

Real Madrid is the dream club for many young footballers, and there is a reason why a lot of young players dream of playing for Real Madrid at some stage of their career. But it is never easy for a youngster to succeed at Los Blancos from the word go.

Given the stature of Real Madrid, you get to see a lot of superstars play for Real Madrid. The presence of these established superstars blocks the path of a youngster, and they are compelled to look for minutes elsewhere.

Due to this Real Madrid often loan youngsters to other clubs, so that they get consistent playing time and to ensure that nothing comes in way of their development. These loan terms often prove to be crucial for the youngsters, as they get a chance to prove their worth to the parent club, and get to play in a comparatively low-pressure environment.

Sometimes these loan spells go the right way, and in some cases, the loanee even comes back to haunt Real Madrid by scoring against them, like Fernando Morientes. But sometimes, these loan deals never go as per plan and the expected progress isn’t achieved in these loan spells, due to various factors. So let us have a look at five such worst loan deals, which have just proved to be a waste of time for both the players and the club.

5 – Jorge De Frutos and Javi Sanchez to Real Valladolid (2019/20)

Jorge De Frutos and Javi Sanchez are two names that became very popular at Real Madrid Castilla in the 2018/19 season. Their performances drew a lot of appreciation from the club, with the former even getting to make his first-team debut under Santiago Solari, and also scored a goal for the first-team in a Copa Del Rey game against Melilla. At the end of the season, it became clear that both of them needed to take the next step of their careers, and subsequently, both of them were loaned to the same club, Real Valladolid.

Given the close relations with Real Valladolid’s President and Real Madrid legend, Ronaldo Nazario, the club didn’t need to think twice before loaning the Spanish duo to Real Valladolid. But things never went as per plan, as the two quality players struggled to get consistent playing time with the Pucelanos.

It was a nightmarish first six months for both of them, with Jorge De Frutos getting only 56 minutes in the league until January 2020. This ultimately led to premature termination of the loan deal in January, with De Frutos getting loaned to Rayo Vallecano in the second division, where he got to play better. He was sold to Levante in the next season, where he got 4 goals and 12 assists in the 2020/21 season and he even assisted a goal in a game against Real Valladolid, proving his worth to the club that couldn’t do justice to his talent.

Javi Sanchez took a more patient approach, though he didn’t get a single minute until January, as he had his own share of injury troubles which kept him on the sidelines. Yet, the club couldn’t play him when he was hail and healthy. But here comes the twist in the tale, as Real Valladolid signed Javi permanently in June 2020. He had played just 2 minutes for Valladolid before that, and after the sale, he started to get consistent minutes.

This raised a serious question on Real Valladolid’s attitude towards players on loan because Javi Sanchez struggled to get minutes as long as he was a Real Madrid player on loan, but his fortune changed the moment he became a Valladolid player.