Real turn to youth to rebuild team
Battle with similarly youthful Ajax today
Madrid - The Uefa Champions League last-16 first-leg match between Real Madrid and Ajax Amsterdam today is an intriguing clash of two European heavyweights who have made young players central to their strategies, but for very different reasons.
Ajax, four-times European Cup winners who are in the knockout stages for the first time in 13 years, have enhanced their reputation as a talent factory due to the rise of homegrown Dutch players Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt.
Midfielder De Jong, 21, has agreed to join Barcelona next season for ß75m (R1,1bn) while defender and captain De Ligt, 19, is one of the most coveted players in Europe and odds-on to depart at the end of this campaign for a huge transfer fee.
Real, meanwhile, have shifted their attitude towards young players, ditching their infamous pursuit of “Galacticos” like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and James Rodriguez to target top young prospects instead. Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr, 18, is the latest example of the new policy, spearheading a resurgent run of five straight La Liga victories and breathing life back into the European champions after a stop-start campaign. Vinicius signed from Flamengo in 2017 for ß40m, an eye-watering fee for a player who had barely turned professional, but in a market where Paris St Germain’s Neymar cost ß222m and Kylian Mbappe ß180m, the transfer looks like shrewd business.
The policy shows little sign of halting, with Brazilian forward Rodrygo, also 18, set to join in June after agreeing a ß50m move from Santos, while Brahim Diaz, a 19-yearold Malaga-born Spanish winger, signed from leaders Manchester City last month for ß15m, despite never making a start in the English Premier League.
“The landscape of international football has transformed in a breathtaking way and we need to confront and adapt to this new reality,” Real president Florentino Perez said, explaining why his club had spent more than ß200m since 2014 on players aged 22 or under.