Tales of the Loyal: Huge heartthrob Nacho has never worn a jersey other than Real Madrid

There are players who play only a couple of seasons in the club, but they are considered huge stars, at best even legends of the club. But in every team there are also heartthrobs who may not be so visible, but always put the good of the club at the expense of personal glory.

Tales of the Faithful is a series on Ruik that follows players who have dedicated all or the vast majority of their careers to one club. In today’s edition, we take a look at Real Madrid defender Nacho Fernández.

The start of his career

When you say true heartthrob, most Real Madrid fans think of Nacho Fernández. The Los Blancos alumnus is twirling his thirteenth season in the A-team, so he has been there for all the successes of the last decade.

He first donned the White Ballet jersey at the age of eleven when he arrived from Madrid’s AD Complutense. Since then, he has not worn any other jersey than Real Madrid’s. He has progressed through all the youth categories, not going on any loan spells and straight through to the A-team.

He made his debut for the A’s on 23 April 2011, when he came on as a left-back in a 6-3 win against Valencia. Nacho was drafted in by José Mourinho, who saw great potential in the young Spaniard.

Since then, the Madrid native has become one of the stable players in the squad and although he has never been a fixture in the starting line-up, if given the chance he almost never disappoints. For any coach, a player like that, who can always be relied on, is very important. He has never complained about his position, he has worked hard all the time and when he comes on he leaves everything on the pitch.

A versatile fighter

Nacho’s qualities are more or less summed up by his debut. Although originally a stopper, he has no problem jumping into any defensive position. If he’s not playing at stopper, he can fill in on both ends of the defense, and we’ve seen him at defensive midfield in the past.

The 32-year-old defender’s big strength is his composure and great calmness in the box. Thus, he fills the position of leader perfectly and is rightfully one of Real Madrid’s four captains. He is not only important on the pitch, but also off it.

the 25-time Spanish international will almost always play to his standard, and occasionally he will also help out the offensive line. His speed and good head game predispose him to his attacking forays. He has scored 15 goals for Real Madrid and has also scored once for the Spanish national team.

Although everyone has Nacho pigeonholed as a substitute stopper, he is used quite often. He played 16 league games in the 2015/16 season, 28 the next season, then 27 and 20 the following season. In the 2020/21 season he played 24 games, last season he hit 28 duels.

Great respect from the coaches and the president

It’s no coincidence that so many coaches have come and gone at Real Madrid, and all of them have immense respect for Nacho. Mourinho pulled him into the first team, then Carlo Ancelotti, Rafael Benítez, Zinedine Zidane, Julen Lopetegui and again Zidane and Ancelotti relied on him.

Nacho breathes for the team and he also commands a lot of respect from president Florentino Pérez, which is not easy to earn. Although Nacho would surely find a club where he would play regularly in the starting line-up due to his qualities, he never even thought about leaving and remained loyal to Real Madrid throughout his career.

In the summer, Chelsea, who were desperately looking for a stopper, or Sevilla were knocking on the 32-year-old’s door. But Nacho reportedly turned down the transfer as he wants to end his career at Real Madrid.

He has currently started his 13th season in the white jersey and given his still good age (32), he will surely add a few more. He will probably end his career at Real Madrid, making him one of the few players to have only worn the jersey of one club in his adult career. Even icons like Iker Casillas and Raúl have failed to do so at the Santiago Bernabéu.

As of August 2022, Nacho has 276 starts for Real Madrid’s A-team, in which he has scored 15 goals and 9 assists.

Source: Real Madrid, Transfermarkt