Ranking the Top 6 Teenagers to Have Played for Real Madrid Since 2000
Real Madrid are well known for bringing in their Galactico signings, expensive names at the top of their game, but the club also has a history of exciting young players getting an early taste of the top, be it after being brought through the youth setup or having been signed after just an impressive season or two elsewhere.
A teenager getting a chance alongside the biggest names in the game always gives hope to the club and supporters that the future is being well looked-after—but there will be no such names likely to feature for Zinedine Zidane's team this term, with Marco Asensio the youngest member of the senior team at 20, and even he is likely to be loaned out.
Still, some Castilla graduates could be handed cameo roles and, if they impress, know there is a route to the first team—where they would be aiming to follow in the footsteps of some of the best.
Here we take a look at six of the best teenage talents to have played for Real Madrid since the turn of the century, taking into account only those who played for the team in a season while they were still teenagers and only factoring in their performances during those years, not what they went on to achieve afterward.
6. Sergio Canales
1 of 6
Ultimately less of a success story than would have been hoped for, Sergio Canales broke into Real Madrid's first team in 2010-11, still only 19 years of age.
He had signed that summer from Racing Santander, but a promising start was quickly curtailed by injury—which would become a horribly repetitive theme for Canales, and indeed still is.
The midfielder played 15 times in his debut campaign at the Bernabeu, including briefly in the Champions League, but he suffered a cruciate ligament injury at the beginning of the following campaign and was unable to build on the promise of his teenage years.
Now at Real Sociedad, Canales is currently battling back from the exact same injury—with his last game in La Liga coming against Real Madrid in December. Canales is now aged 25.
5. Gonzalo Higuain
2 of 6
In 2007-08 Gonzalo Higuain made his first big impact on the team, scoring nine times in the campaign he turned 20.
Playing from the sides of the attack almost as often as he played at centre-forward, Higuain was very much in a battle for minutes against the likes of Robinho, Arjen Robben and Ruud van Nistelrooy to partner club legend Raul in attack.
Higuain ended as the fourth-highest scorer thanks to a late-season run of form, highlighting the immense promise he showed after having joined from River Plate in January of 2007. Fast forward almost a decade and the Argentinian striker has moved from Napoli to Juventus for nearly €100 million.
4. Marcelo
3 of 6
In January 2007, Real Madrid signed Marcelo from Fluminense in Brazil; by September Marcelo was established at left-back as the first choice and played 32 times, aged just 19, as his team won the title in Spain.
It very quickly became apparent that he had all the traits Real Madrid had been used to seeing down that side of their team in previous years: phenomenal pace, great individual skill and a love of surging forward as early as possible—even if that came at something of a defensive cost.
The longevity of Marcelo is of course one of his most endearing and appealing traits; minor bumps in form aside, he has remained the first pick in the position at the Bernabeu since then and will continue to be so into 2016-17, now aged 28.
3. Raphael Varane
4 of 6
At 17, Raphael Varane was already viewed around Europe as perhaps the next best talent in the game; it didn't take long for Real Madrid to snap him up from Lens in France and 2012-13 saw Raphael Varane make huge strides toward being a first-team option.
Like Marcelo, Varane remains at Real Madrid and is still certainly capable of going on to become the monster defender he appeared destined to be, but consistency and injury issues have thus far hampered his bid to win an undisputed place in the team.
Even so, for a teenager he was hugely important for Real in 12-13, playing every game with the exception of one as his team went to the semi-finals of the Champions League, while also featuring 15 times in La Liga.
Pace, power, reading of the game and composure in possession; Varane looked to have it all—and still does. If he can put together those characteristics on a weekly basis, he could be viewed as one of Europe's best in the next year or two...and he's still only 23.
2. Sergio Ramos
5 of 6
Sergio Ramos was already a regular for Sevilla at 18, encouraging Real Madrid to fork out big money for him at the start of 2005-06.
His debut season at the Bernabeu saw Ramos—gifted technically, enormously aggressive and overly impetuous—flit between a holding-midfield role, an offensive right-back position and, of course, the role he would go on to tie down in later seasons, centre-back.
Fast, strong in the air and extremely competent in possession, Ramos didn't take long to ensure he was both a crowd and management favourite. He became an indispensable part of the team no matter where he featured.
Ramos helped the team finish second in his first year at the club, before winning La Liga in both the next two campaigns.
1. Iker Casillas
6 of 6
In 2000-01, Iker Casillas was Real Madrid's first-team goalkeeper at just 19 years of age.
His lightning reflexes and seemingly magnetic touch in making blocks and parries saw the ball invariably fall his way, not a forward's, earning him a "lucky" tag, which in reality was far more to do with technique and speed than fortune.
Earning himself a place in the team ahead of Cesar Sanchez and veteran Bodo Illgner, Casillas won La Liga that season—playing 47 games in all competitions—and reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. He'd go on to appear in the final itself off the bench, and win, a year later.
Not bad for the youngster who was already en route to becoming a legend.
