Real Madrid in line for 50% windfall as Nottingham Forest target former Castilla starlet with release clause over €30 million | OneFootball

Real Madrid’s habit of including sell-on clauses in most Castilla sales they make is seeing them profit massively this summer transfer window.

Los Blancos have put a lot of emphasis on using their academy to fund their first team, and this is a strategy that has worked really well so far.

Now, according to Radio Galega (h/t Madrid Zone), Madrid could be handed an unexpected financial boost before the end of the transfer window.

Premier League club Nottingham Forest are interested in signing Celta Vigo defender Javi Rueda, and this could benefit Madrid.

Forest set sights on former Castilla starlet

The English club are showing interest in the 23-year-old, whose release clause at Celta is worth more than €30 million.

Rueda came through Real Madrid’s youth system before continuing his career away from the Santiago Bernabeu.

Javi Rueda played for the Real Madrid academy. (Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/Getty Images)

Crucially for Madrid, they are entitled to 50 per cent of the future transfer fee.

With a release clause exceeding €30 million, there is potentially a substantial amount of money at stake.

If a transfer were eventually completed for €30 million, for example, Madrid’s 50 percent share would theoretically be worth around €15 million.

However, this is just a hypothetical calculation, and the transfer formula and various other factors could determine the sell-on fee.

Another example of Madrid’s academy strategy

This is exactly why Real Madrid have increasingly looked to preserve future economic rights when allowing talented academy players to leave.

Not every youngster can establish himself in the first team, particularly given the level of competition in Madrid’s squad.

Javi Rueda is wanted by Nottingham Forest. (Photo by Diogo Cardoso/Getty Images)

Rather than simply losing those players, the club can sell them while retaining percentages that become valuable if their careers continue to progress elsewhere.

Rueda could now become another example of that strategy paying off.

Potential boost for Madrid’s transfer plans

While the sale of Rueda has not gone through, should it do so, it would allow Madrid to use those funds in the summer transfer window.

Los Blancos do have another problem to address, which is their squad size, but financially, there should be no issue.

In a strange sense, this can also be seen as a win for Madrid and Castilla to see so many of their graduates go on to succeed elsewhere.

Some of Madrid’s best eras have been built on this foundation, and it remains to be seen whether Jose Mourinho’s second stint at the club goes on to enjoy the same kind of success in the coming years.