It is rare for a Real Madrid manager to back academy stars, especially given the club’s seemingly endless financial resources, the high standards and near-zero room for error.
Alvaro Arbeloa, however, was one such rare coach who had what it takes to trust academy players over seasoned talents and handed debuts to several stars.
In fact, he did see many players do well making the step up from the Castilla, including Thiago Pitarch as one of the most notable examples.
Florentino Perez concerned
Arbeloa’s decision to trust young talent and hand out minutes purely based on merit earned him a lot of praise from fans across the globe.
As reported by MARCA, however, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is not entirely on board with the idea.
Indeed, the club president was not happy seeing players on whom massive investments were made being benched by Alvaro Arbeloa, more so for academy stars.
Arbeloa has heavily relied on young academy talents. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
He was concerned by the dip in prominence of names like Dean Huijsen, Alvaro Carreras and Franco Mastantuono and how they were repeatedly dropped from the starting XI.
With a huge investment of €160 million being made in them just last summer, he found it bizarre that they were replaced by La Fabrica talents.
The manager cannot be faulted for his ideology of rewarding merit over stature, but Perez’s is also understandable given how a massive investment appears to have been for nothing.
Heading into next season, it thus remans to be seen if the aforementioned disagreement paves the way for a rift between the coach and the administration.
After all, Arbeloa’s future is far from guaranteed with the first team, especially with the team set to finish without a major for the second season in a row.
