One of the major knocks on Real Madrid, compared to many other top European clubs, is its development of young players from the academy. Other clubs, like Bayern Munich and Barcelona, tend to produce a number of youngsters who can break into the senior team and become regular first-team players. Whereas Real tend to loan or sell their youngsters to other clubs and sometimes even buy them back once they've developed as players elsewhere.
However, in the last few years, Real have had to rely more than usual on their academy youngsters as the club has dealt with a typical injury crisis across the pitch. Nico Paz and Jacobo Ramon, who are both now at Como in Italy, Raul Asencio, and Gonzalo Garcia all made their first-team debuts, as they've been called on to step up in the absence of a number of regular starters.
This season, under both Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa, a number of Castilla players have been called on to step up and help the team in the midst of another injury crisis. One of the players who also made his first-team debut is defender Victor Valdepenas.
The Spaniard impressed many at the club during his first team debut, and it seems he didn't only catch the eye of those at Real but also others from other top European clubs as well.
Arsenal interest grows in Real Madrid academy star
Spanish outlet AS (via Madrid Xtra on X) reports that multiple European clubs are showing interest in youth Valdepenas. Arsenal hold the strongest interest in the player, with AC Milan also in the running for the 19-year-old. His contract with the club runs until 2029, and he is fully focused on becoming a senior team player for Los Blancos. Despite that, clubs are still expected to battle over his signature this summer.
Valdepenas, described by One Football as a 'monster', has made one senior team appearance as the starting left-back in Real's 2-1 victory over Alaves on December 14th, and hasn't featured since. He's been in the matchday squad for two other matches this season, those being the Champions League loss against Manchester City and the Copa del Rey win over Talavera.
He showed glimpses of promise in the match against Alaves, pretty much being thrown into the fire at 19 years old, and he held his own in a situation when other youngsters probably would have cracked under the pressure of making their senior team debut.
As a result of his impressive debut, he caught the eye of a number of top European clubs ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window, with Arsenal showing the strongest interest. The Premier League giants love to stockpile players, and Valdepenas seems to be the next one they hope to add to Mikel Arteta's squad. He's capable of playing as both a left-back and a center-back, and that versatility is likely to be appealing to Arteta as he constantly deals with defensive injuries.