A look at the new philosophy of Real Madrid recruitment

Once branded Los Galacticos for signing the best players in the world, Real Madrid are a totally different beast now. The club once recruited the best players in the world, owing to their monetary strength in every single transfer window. The philosophy came to light in Florentino Perez’s first stint as Madrid President and has continued since.

With the likes of David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo Nazario, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Luis Figo are all considered true Galacticos owing to their individual brilliance on the pitch.

The Madrid of then seems a long way gone from the Madrid of now. The club have learned from the failure of the Galactico days and have decided to invest in long-term projects instead.

Sourced by Mundo Deportivo, the CIES Football Conservatory conducted research into the average age of signings made by the clubs in Europe’s top five leagues. Surprisingly, Real Madrid had the lowest average age of all.

It is well worth noting that the players who came through the ranks at the club’s youth system were not included in the survey. The average age of the signings is 22.2 years.

Luka Jovic (21), Eder Militao (21), Rodrygo (18), Álvaro Odriozola (22) and Vinicius Junior (18) are the players that have made Madrid’s average recruitment age drop the way it has.

All that said, Los Blancos have still indulged in expensive signings in recent years as well. The likes of Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard, both from Chelsea, are a testament to the fact that it isn’t all-young players for the Madrid scouts.

If reports are to be believed, the summer of 2021 could see another young superstar join the club by the name of Kylian Mbappe. Additionally, Eduardo Camavinga of Rennes has also been linked to the club and looks destined to play in White someday.

Whether or not the signing of younger players will prove to be beneficial for the club is something that cannot be settled just yet. It will take some time for the players to reach their full potential, and truly show their best versions since they are so young.