A new duo on the verge of leaving Real Madrid | Goal.com
Manuel Ángel and David Jiménez keep training seriously inside "La Fábrica", but both know their future now lies away from Real Madrid. They await the right offer amid strong interest from clubs in Spain's first and second divisions and across other European leagues.
Real Madrid's revenues from selling academy players have hit a record 199 million euros, and the pair are next in line to leave after Jacobo Ortega. Castilla have therefore left them out of friendlies and official fixtures, a precaution to avoid any injury that could scupper a decisive transfer, according to the Spanish newspaper "AS".
Manuel Ángel came very close to leaving last summer. Several clubs chased him hard, Levante most insistently of all, and Aston Villa also tried to sign him. He chose to stay for one more season.
He wore the captain's armband under Álvaro Arbeloa last season, then López de Lerma, and finished by spending more time with the first team. Seven matches and 129 minutes were enough to prove his level qualifies him for a higher standard.
Just 22 and 170 centimetres tall, Manuel joined Real Madrid's academy in 2014. He is one of the most prominent talents of the famous treble-winning generation led by Arbeloa, a group that included Nico Paz, Gonzalo, Palacios and Jacobo Ramón. Arbeloa called him "a player who completely changes the course of a match".
Small he may be, but he dominates midfield through intelligence and two equally proficient feet. He takes free kicks with both his right and left, so much so that those inside the club joke: "Even he himself does not know whether he is right-footed or left-footed!".
Now, after 12 years at Valdebebas, the interest around him is expected to turn into official offers and open a new chapter in his career.
From the mind to the glove comes David Jiménez, Manuel Ángel's teammate in that same treble-winning generation, who came close to 20 assists in an exceptional season.
Many at Valdebebas call him Arbeloa's right-hand man on the pitch, and reckon he has "the best right foot in the academy". He is an attacking full-back to his core, a strong presence in the opponent's half and the club's main man for set pieces. On the ball, he carries the calm of a midfielder.
"He surges forward with all his might, he has the personality of a leader and the touch of Carvajal", runs the verdict inside the academy. His strong personality mirrors that of Arbeloa himself, his childhood idol and later one of his biggest supporters.
Born in 2004 and an academy player since 2013, the 1.70-metre Jiménez logged his last 153 minutes with the first team last season, 91 of them under Xabi Alonso, leaving a distinctive impression on the coaches. He has enough experience to launch himself outside the Real Madrid bubble, awaiting the spark that will fire his new career, one everyone is confident is coming.
Once Manuel Ángel and David Jiménez leave, Real Madrid's revenues from selling academy players will smash the 200 million euro barrier. The Jacobo Ortega deal adds another 10 million euros to the coffers, pushing the total from 199 million above that mark.
Some at Valdebebas foresaw exactly this when they spoke of a "historic summer", now becoming reality, with the club retaining percentages of the future sale rights of many players.
The list of players sold so far includes: Nico Paz (60 million euros), Gonzalo (40 million euros), Víctor Muñoz (20.5 million euros), Gila (15 million euros), Álvaro Rodríguez (12.5 million euros), Álex Jiménez (12.5 million euros), Palacios (10 million euros), Jacobo Ortega (10 million euros), Fran García (4 million euros), Mario Martín (3 million euros), and Fran González (3 million euros), with strong interest in others such as Sisteró, Yáñez and Juan Martínez.
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