On July 27, Real Madrid held the Endrick debut at the Bernabeu with the participation of more than 60,000 fans. The 18-year-old striker's contract is worth 35 million Euros, and can later increase to 25 million Euros depending on his achievements. Along with Mbappe, Endrick joined Galaticos 3.0 with many young stars such as Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo, Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga.
Having Mbappe as a free transfer and Endrick not too expensive shows Los Blancos' vision and smart transfer method. They spent £1.2 billion on their current squad but their real value could exceed £1.8 billion.
In recent years, the reason Real Madrid has rarely "bombarded" with expensive contracts is because of COVID-19 and the Bernabeu renovation. Real is almost the only big team to survive the pandemic thanks to the leadership of captain Florentino Perez. After the pandemic, Real Madrid still has money to buy and still ensures a plan worth 1.76 billion Euros to renovate their house.
According to Transfermarkt, Real Madrid ranked 12th in terms of transfer spending worldwide since the 2019-20 season. They spent 650.8 million Euros on transfer fees during that time, a very small number compared to Chelsea's 1.59 billion Euros or Manchester United's 1.01 billion Euros. It is even less than West Ham's 660.7 million Euros.
In the same period, Real Madrid lost 215.2 million Euros in transfers but they are still much better than other big opponents across Europe. Among the arch-rivals, only Barcelona kept a lower loss than Real Madrid (145 million Euros).
One of the ways Real Madrid have maintained their financial foundation in recent years but have been successful is the policy of buying young players. Before Endrick, many other young stars joined Real Madrid and rose to become the world's top players.
For example, Casemiro, he came to Real Madrid in 2013 at the age of 21 and cost 5.8 million Euros. Later, having won five Champions Leagues with Real, Casemiro moved to Man United for €70.3 million. Or like the case of Raphael Varane. Before moving to Man United for 40 million Euros, he won 4 Champions Leagues and only cost Los Blancos 10 million Euros at the age of 18 when moving from Lens.
Real Madrid are also very successful in selling young stars. They earned €43 million by selling Achraf Hakimi to Inter in 2020 when the defender was 21. Real earned 30 million Euros when they sold Sergio Reguilon to Tottenham that year.
It is not that Real Madrid is always successful in player markets. They were a modest defeat to Eden Hazard (100 million Euros) and Luka Jovic (60 million Euros) in 2019. Since then, Real Madrid have not spent too much money to buy the star. They have succeeded in becoming a talent magnet like the case of Kylian Mbappe.
Another of Real Madrid's successes in recent years has been developing talent to the world's top star level for players. New contracts after arriving at the Bernabeu often increase in value every season. A typical example is Jude Bellingham. The English midfielder from Dortmund in the summer of 2023 cost 103 million Euros. According to CIES, Bellingham's value has now fallen to around 285 million Euros after a successful season.
Vinicius arrived at Real Madrid in 2018 for €45 million and his now-in-a-lifetime value has fallen to €231.5 million. Kylian Mbappe arrived on a free transfer and is now valued at around €251 million. Some of the remaining stars are highly rated such as Rodrygo (203.2 million Euros), Federico Valverde (122.3 million Euros) or Eduardo Camavinga (113.8 million Euros). Even after Endrick, after the moment of debuting for the new team, the value of this young star increased to 55.7 million Euros.
Some people increase, some will have to decrease. Among Los Blancos' veterans, the lowest value in the transfer market at the moment belongs to the living legend Luka Modric. At the age of 39, he is recognized by CIES as having a value of 0 in the transfer market. However, people like Modric are no longer measured in value in money, the legacy he left over the years is considered invaluable.
