Real Madrid do not have a great track record over the years when it comes to promoting standouts at the Castilla level to the senior team. On the contrary, many have left the club in search of playing time and proved themselves to be brilliant players elsewhere. Names like Achraf Hakimi, Miguel Gutierrez and several others come to mind immediately.
Real Madrid appear to be focusing on strengthening their Castilla ranks right now. It has been a disappointing campaign for Raul's side so far.
A highly-rated winger seems to be headed to Castilla. As reported by CD Castellon's official website, they and Real Madrid have reached an agreement for the transfer of Jeremy De Leon.
Castellon play in the same division as Castilla, and are actually top of their group. So, De Leon should not have much issue adjusting to the level of football after moving to Raul's side.
Real Madrid signing of winger officially announced
Of course, it has not been officially confirmed whether De Leon will be joining Castilla or not. But that has been the speculation for weeks and makes all the sense in the world.
If De Leon can impress at Castilla, he could end up getting playing time for the senior team eventually. Do not expect that to happen anytime soon though.
De Leon is 19 years of age and has been a standout player for Puerto Rico at the youth international level. He is also set to become only the second Puerto Rican player in Real Madrid's history.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for De Leon in the Spanish capital. One thing is clear though, the pipeline between the Castilla side and the senior team has to be much better than it has been in recent years. Who was last to make the jump successfully?