Florentino Pérez: ‘Real Madrid’s academy is the best in the world’

Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez has revealed his take that the club’s academy setup is the very best in world football, in comments which will no doubt spark chatter behind the scenes at arch rivals Barcelona.

The subject of youth production at La Liga football’s two leading clubs has of course long been a major topic of discussion in Spain.

This comes with Barcelona continuing to produce some of world football’s standout up-and-coming talents.

Over recent years alone, La Masia has catapulted the likes of Gavi, Pau Cubarsí, Lamine Yamal, Marc Casadó and Marc Bernal onto the world stage.

This is in contrast to the model long made use of at Real Madrid, which sees youngsters brought in at a more developed point, before being fast-tracked to the senior setup – Endrick, Vinícius Jr. and Rodrygo to name a few.

One individual who does not feel as though as much should see La Masia considered as superior to La Fábrica, though, comes in the form of the aforementioned Florentino Pérez.

Speaking early this week, in quotes relaid by Fabrizio Romano, Real Madrid chief Pérez revealed his take that:

“Real Madrid’s academy is the best in the world. There are currently 191 Real Madrid players in pro leagues. 51 in the First Division, 56 in the Second Division, 84 in international leagues. The Real Madrid academy is the most productive this year.”

Conor Laird – GSFN