How Jude Bellingham’s Transfer To Real Madrid Explains A Recent Change In The Club’s Transfer Policy

Jude Bellingham has completed his move from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid for a reported fee of £88m with the potential £27m in add-ons which could make him the most expensive English player ever.

The England midfielder has reportedly signed a six-year deal which would keep him at the Santiago Bernabeu until the summer of 2029.

The teenager who will turn 20 later this month, is the latest of a pair of young midfielders who have been acquired by Los Blancos in recent years.

Aurélien Tchouameni (22) and Eduardo Camavinga(18) were each signed in previous two summer transfer windows from Monaco and Rennes respectively and while these signings does appear to make total sense as these players are set to replace the aging duo of Luka Modrić (37) and Toni Kroos(33) at the club, it will not be outrageous to label these move the result of a change in the transfer policy of the Los Blancos especially if one looks at the ages of the recent acquisitions to the team which have been made over other areas of the pitch with players like Vinícius Júnior(16), Take Kubo(18) Rodrigo Goes(18), Eder Militaó(21) and more recently Endrick(16) being signed all under the age of 22.

While it used to be and is still common for most clubs in Europe to sign young talents and nuture them to stardom, Real Madrid were renowned for acquiring such matured world class stars.

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• The search for European crown

This reputation which has accrued to the Los Blancos over the years, was brought up on the club by none other than a then 52 year old Florentino Perez, who promised to sign the best players in the world following his election as club president back in the year 2000.

This promise was backed up by the signing of superstar players also known as “Galacticos”. Players such as Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo Ronaldo, Micheal Owen, David Beckham and Robinho were signed by the Los Merengues in addition to stars such as Roberto Carlos, Iker Casillas and Raul which saw Real Madrid become one of the most dominant football teams on the planet brimming with unmatchable array of talent all through its squad.

Another Galacticos signing spree took place from 2009, which saw Real Madrid sign the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Xabi Alonso, Toni Kroos and Mesut Ozil. The signing of these players undoubtedly led to so much success for the club as they went on to win over 18 major trophies in ten years including an unprecedented hat-tricks of Champions Leagues between the 2016 and 2018 campaigns.

However it seems that in recent years the Los Blancos has adopted a different approach which involves signing some of the best young players and developing them into world beaters.

This change of strategy masterminded and executed by Flo Perez, General Manager José Ángel Sánchez and Club Chief Scout Juni Calafat probably have been forced upon the Los Blancos by the advent of state-owned clubs in recent years in European football which has almost rendered many other clubs considered heavyweights such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, unable to compete in the transfer market for the signature of the best players in the world.

With the exception of the €115m deal for Eden Hazard from Chelsea for and the ongoing pursuit of Kylian Mbappe, the Los Blancos have generally stayed away from Galáctico signings in the past few seasons.

According to Statistics from Transfermarkt, since the 2018/19 season, Real Madrid has spent about €739m on transfer fees on 19 players and Only 4 Players – Eden Hazard (28), Thibaut Courtois(26), Ferland Mendy (25) and Mariano Díaz(25) were above the age of 24.

About €520m of the €739m spent on transfer fees in that period (representing more than 70%) have been spent on players under the age of 23 with the likes of Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo blossoming into some of the world’s best wingers in recent years.