How Real Madrid have funded their third most expensive summer transfer window in 16 years | OneFootball

With four major first-team signings, Real Madrid have been one of the busiest teams in Europe, as far as the transfer market is concerned.

The club roped in Trent Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer while signing Alvaro Carreras, Franco Mastantuono and Dean Huijsen in big-money moves.

In total, Real Madrid have ended up spending €178 million – one of the highest in Europe this summer. This is despite the fact that all clubs in Spain are under tight financial scrutiny.

How Real Madrid have funded their transfers

According to MARCA, Real Madrid’s summer spending has been made possible thanks to two major financial levers, which together generated more than €100 million.

The first lever has been Valdebebas, with the club selling multiple youth players for a combined €31 million.

Individually, the likes of Miguel Gutierrez (€7m), Chema Andres (€6m), Obrador (€5m), Víctor Munoz (€5m), Jacobo Ramon (€2.5m), Alvaro Rodriguez (€2.5m), and Yusi Enríquez (€3m) contributed to this total.

Sale of academy talents such as Rafa Obrador have contributed greatly to Real Madrid’s balances. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

Beyond immediate revenue, these deals also included sell-on clauses and buy-back options. The club, therefore, remain in control of their futures despite selling them permanently.

The second crucial lever for Real Madrid was the FIFA Club World Cup, which was hosted in the United States earlier in the summer.

Despite criticism over the tournament’s grueling schedule, the financial reward was enormous, particularly for a club like Real Madrid.

Indeed, Los Blancos pocketed €80 million from the competition alone, which signifcantly boosted the club’s transfer budget.

With an outlay of €178 million, this has been Real Madrid’s third biggest rebuild. Real Madrid only spent more in 2019 and 2009, when the club notably signed Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and interestingly, current coach Xabi Alonso in the same window.