Marca: Real Madrid pay attention to 19-year-old academy defender Valdepeñas

On November 6, the Spanish media "Marca" reported that Real Madrid is paying attention to the 19-year-old youth training defender Valdepeñas.

The 19-year-old defender Valdepeñas’s outstanding performance in Castilla attracted attention. His versatility has allowed him to operate at left-back in recent months. However, Arbeloa eventually returned to the original plan of playing him alongside Juan Martinez at centre-back. The combination was a huge success: the pair led the team to four consecutive wins, three clean sheets and only conceded one goal (a penalty).

Valdepeñas's name has joined the list of high-profile center backs in Real Madrid's youth academy, including Jacob Ramon, Juan Martinez, Diego Aguado, Mario Rivas and Ramini Fati.

Real Madrid plans to rebuild its defense in the next few years. The contracts of Alaba and Rudiger are about to expire, and their futures are unclear. In addition to paying attention to the transfer market, there are many central defenders in Real Madrid's youth training camp who have great potential and have the potential to strengthen the team. The club has developed a defensive rebuilding plan that includes a number of academy players. Valdepeñas is one of many centre-backs from Real Madrid's youth academy who aspire to break into the first team.

The rise of Valdepeñas was no accident. A year ago, players began to emerge at the Valdebebas training base. Arbeloa once again unearthed a bright pearl from the U19 youth team. Last season, due to the serious injury of Juan Martinez and the departure of Jacob Ramon from the youth team, Arbeloa lost its main central defender combination for the 2023-24 season.

In order to reorganize the team, he gave Aguado a core position and trusted Valdepeñas, who in just a few weeks became one of the brightest stars in the U19 youth team. His impressive progress and status as one of the most promising defenders in Real Madrid's youth academy prompted Real Madrid to move quickly to extend his contract. In October 2024, Valdepeñas renewed his contract with the club until 2029.

Not long ago, Real Madrid had formulated a new plan for Valdepeñas. The club began to gradually promote him and raise his requirements on the competitive level. In mid-October last year, Valdepeñas was promoted to Real Madrid's C team. A week later, Raúl trusted Valdepeñas even more and allowed him to play for the Castilla first team. In December, he was officially promoted to Castile. Last season, Valdepeñas played 14 times for Castilla and 6 times for Real Madrid C team. His rise was unstoppable and Arbeloa did not hesitate to consider him a central player in his first plans at the helm of Real Madrid C.

Valdepeñas is known for his excellent physical fitness. The distance he runs and the intensity numbers he puts into every game are amazing. This allows him to play as a full-back or even a wing-back, taking on all defensive tasks on the wing. The breadth of defensive options he offers is one of his greatest strengths. This makes him a "three-in-one" player. He is a left-footed defender who can play as a centre-back, full-back, wing-back in a back three system, or even as a midfielder.

He played all these positions last season: Valdepeñas played as a center back and full-back with the Youth A team (U19), as a full-back with Castilla, and as a midfielder with the Real Madrid C team. Playing for Real Madrid's first three reserve teams, Castilla, Real Madrid's C team and the Youth A team, allowed him to accomplish a feat: as a defender, he scored goals for all three teams: 3 goals and 1 assist in the Youth A team, 1 goal and 1 assist in the Real Madrid C team, and 1 goal in Castilla.

Valdepeñas performed well last season, and the most surprising thing was that he was selected into the first team for the first time. Valdepeñas was the biggest surprise in Ancelotti's squad for the league match against Villarreal last March. At only 18 years old, he became the 16th youth training player to be selected for the first team that season. This is the best reward for his brilliant performance in the Real Madrid youth academy last season, and for this reason, Ancelotti included him in the promotion list.

Valdepeñas joined the La Fabrica youth academy from Rayo Vallecano in 2018. After a few years in the youth academy, he moved to Leganes and returned to La Fabrica in 2022 to join the Youth C team. Since then, he has risen through the ranks, becoming one of the most promising players at La Fabrica's youth academy and is now a regular for Castilla.