Real Madrid sign former Atletico Madrid academy defender | OneFootball

According to Mundo Deportivo, Real Madrid have completed the signing of Aimar Garcia after the 19-year-old defender left Atletico Madrid upon the expiry of his contract.

The versatile youngster, who featured for Atletico Madrid C last season, chose not to renew his deal with the club, allowing Los Blancos to secure his signature on a free transfer.

Long-Term contract until 2030

Real Madrid had been monitoring Garcia for several months before finalising the move.

The defender has signed a contract running until 2030, beating competition from both Real Betis and Italian side Cagliari, who were also interested in signing him.

Primarily a centre-back, Garcia is also capable of playing in defensive midfield, offering valuable versatility.

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Set to play for Castilla

Aimar began in Villaverde’s academy, moved to Rayo Vallecano and even had a spell at Real Madrid earlier in his youth career.

Injuries slowed his progress but he got back on track at Getafe before spending the past three years at Atletico Madrid.

In recent seasons he had not fully established himself with the Rojiblancos, which partly explains why, with his contract expiring in June, he was not renewed and was not firmly included in Atletico’s future plans.

However, Real Madrid, convinced of his potential, had been monitoring him for some time and have acted on their interest by signing the teenager.

Garcia will join Julian Lopez de Lerma’s Castilla team. (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

Garcia will begin his Real Madrid career with the club’s reserve team, Castilla, where he is expected to strengthen the defensive line as they target promotion to Primera RFEF next season.

For Real Madrid, Garcia represents another addition to their academy structure as the club continues to recruit promising young talent from across Spanish football.

While working on adding big names to the first-team squad, Real Madrid have also been hard at work at strengthening their squad at the youth and reserve levels too.

Garcia now becomes the latest player to make the switch from Atletico Madrid’s academy to Real Madrid, following in the footsteps of prodigious prospects such as Gabriel Suarez, Ariel Nkoghe, Yeremaiah, and Adrien Bielsa among others.