Real Madrid have secured their young stars. Who has the best chance of making the A-team?

Real Madrid have often attracted attention in the past with expensive signings, but they can also work with their academy, called “La Fábrica”. Raúl González, Iker Casillas, Dani Carvajal and many others are shining examples of this. That’s why Los Blancos are now insuring young talent.

Florentino Pérez has been on the job lately. Over the summer, he extended the contracts of several players such as Valverde, Benzema, Courtoso, Nacho and several others.

However, he is also thinking about the young talents who are just peeking into the A-team. Marvin Park, Sergio Arribas, Antonio Blanco and Miguel Gutiérrez are expected to sign new contracts. Let’s take a look at who is most likely to succeed in the Real Madrid first team.

Miguel Gutiérrez – 20 years old, left-back

Miguel probably has the best chance of making his way into Real Madrid’s shortest squad in the near future. Last year he started six league games, notched one assist and completely impressed all the fans and the Spanish professional community. He can attack brilliantly, but he’s comfortable with his left-side clearance, slightly reminiscent of Marcelo in his prime.

He just pushed the current Los Blancos captain out of the lineup last season and is probably ahead of him in the hierarchy now. Miguel has quite a lot of competition, with David Alaba having played the first two rounds at left-back and Marcelo and Ferland Mendy still injured.

However, Miguel got his chance in the third round at Betis and he definitely impressed both the fans and coach Ancelotti with his performance. With injuries to Mendy and Marcelo, Guti could have a chance to break through, he has all the tools to do so.

Antonio Blanco – 21 years old, central midfielder

A central defensive midfielder who is a direct replacement for Casemiro in the A-team. The Brazilian bulldog has played all three league games, so Blanco has been waiting on the bench for now. However, his opportunity could come this weekend against Celta Vigo, as Casemiro will probably still be unavailable after returning from the national team reunion.

Although Blanco is a defensive midfielder, he is a diametrically different type of player from Casemiro. The 21-year-old is adorned with great kicking technique, ball distribution, overview of the game and millimetre-accurate passing. His style of play is more reminiscent of Xabi Alonso or current teammate Toni Kroos.

He impressed last year with his stunning debut at Cadiz, where he eventually became player of the match. Overall, he has played 4 games for Real Madrid in La Liga and would like to score more this season.

Sergio Arribas – 19 years old, winger, central midfielder

A footballer who may have the most talent of all those mentioned, but needs to grow up a bit for adult football. At just 173 centimetres and 64 kilos, he’s a bit of a handicap, but in the more footballing Spanish league that might not be as much of a problem as it is in England, for example.

Arribas has made the most starts of any youngster, hitting eight La Liga games last season and making two Champions League starts. But most of his starts came in January/February, when Real were in a player crisis and Zinedine Zidane could only count on maybe 11 A-team players due to injuries.

By the end of the season, when Miguel and Blanco were shining, Arribas wasn’t getting into the game much. He hasn’t even gotten a chance this season.

Marvin Park – 21 years old, winger, right-back

A great all-rounder who can play both on the wing and on the edge of defence. Zinedine Zidane also used him as a halfback in a 3-5-2 system last year and Marvin has done well in that role. Last season he started 4 La Liga games and scored one assist.

Last year, Real Madrid’s Castilla were looking to qualify from the third Spanish league to the second, but the legendary Raúl González’s charges were eliminated in the play-offs after a 0-0 draw, with the opponent being the higher ranked team in the regular season.

In the current season, however, Real Madrid want to get their B team into the second league at any cost, which is why all the youngsters have stayed in Madrid, although they would probably have gone on loan under different circumstances.

Miguel Gutiérrez and Antonio Blanco are members of the A-team’s short squad, while Sergio Arribas and Marvin Park are more likely to be members of the wider squad, playing regularly for Castilla and moving up to the A-team if necessary. Miguel, however, could be included in the starting lineup as early as this season, while Blanco should be Casemiro’s successor.

Source: Livesport, Marca