La Fábrica's Transformative Summer: Real Madrid's New Era

They still lace up their boots at Valdebebas, still file into training like any other day. But everyone inside La Fábrica knows the truth: Manuel Ángel and David Jiménez are already halfway out the door.

Both are working at full tilt, both are waiting. The offers are circling from Spain’s first and second tiers, and from abroad. The right project, the right moment, and they will walk away from the academy that raised them.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, are counting. And the numbers are staggering.

With academy sales already at a record 199 million euros, the club are poised to crash through the 200 million barrier once the futures of Manuel Ángel and Jiménez are sealed. They have already been pulled out of Castilla’s friendlies and official matches, a calculated move to protect their transfer value and avoid injuries that could derail a decisive deal, as reported by Spanish outlet AS.

This is not a pause. It is a launchpad.

Manuel Ángel: The Mastermind Who Outgrew the Bubble

Last summer, he almost left. Levante pushed hardest, Aston Villa also made their move, and there were others. Manuel Ángel listened, weighed it up, and chose to stay one more year.

He used that season to underline exactly who he is.

Under Álvaro Arbeloa and then López de Lerma, he wore the captain’s armband. He closed the campaign nudging closer to the elite, collecting seven first-team appearances and 129 minutes that were enough to show he belongs at a higher level than the third tier.

Now 22, 1.70m tall and a Real Madrid player since 2014, he stands as one of the standout names from that famous “treble generation” led by Arbeloa — the group that also featured Nico Paz, Gonzalo, Palacios and Jacobo Ramón. Arbeloa once summed him up with a line that stuck: “a player who completely changes the course of a match”.

That is his profile in a sentence.

On the pitch, he compensates for his size with brain and balance. He dictates games from midfield, sees pictures others miss, and uses both feet with such ease that the academy staff joke he doesn’t know if he is right- or left-footed. He takes free kicks with either, switches play with either, and never looks rushed.

Twelve years after walking into Valdebebas, the interest that has long surrounded him is hardening into something more concrete. This time, the expectation is that he goes. Not as a prospect, but as a finished product ready to test himself beyond the Real Madrid bubble.

David Jiménez: Arbeloa’s Right-Hand Man on the Pitch

If Manuel Ángel is the mind, David Jiménez is the surge.

From the same treble generation, the right-back almost hit 20 assists in that remarkable season. It is no coincidence people at Valdebebas call him Arbeloa’s “right-hand man” on the pitch and speak of “the best right foot in the academy”.

He plays like a winger trapped in a defender’s body. An attacking full-back in the purest sense, he lives in the opposition half, whips in dead balls, and handles the ball with the composure of a central midfielder. On set pieces, he is often the reference point. On the right flank, he is a constant problem.

Inside the academy, they describe him in a way that instantly paints the picture: “He surges forward with all his might, he has the personality of a leader and the touch of Carvajal.” The comparison is no accident. His strong character mirrors Arbeloa’s own — first as a childhood idol, later as one of his biggest supporters on the touchline.

Born in 2004, in the system since 2013, the 1.70m Jiménez closed last season with 153 minutes for the first team, 91 of them under Xabi Alonso. Those minutes were few, but enough to leave a clear impression on the coaching staff.

He has seen enough, felt enough, to know he is ready to step out. Now he waits, like Manuel Ángel, for the spark that will ignite the next stage of his career. Inside Valdebebas, there is no doubt it will come.

A Historic Summer: La Fábrica Breaks the 200 Million Barrier

All of this plays out against a backdrop that is transforming how the world looks at Real Madrid’s academy.

Once Manuel Ángel and David Jiménez complete their moves, La Fábrica’s sales this summer will smash through the 200 million euros mark. The 10 million euros from the Jacobo Ortega deal has already pushed the figure past 199 million. The next two exits will take it into new territory.

People inside Valdebebas saw it coming weeks ago. They spoke quietly of a “historic summer”. Now it is written in the balance sheets.

The list of departures is striking:

• Nico Paz for 60 million euros
• Gonzalo for 40 million
• Víctor Muñoz for 20.5 million
• Gila for 15 million
• Álvaro Rodríguez for 12.5 million
• Álex Jiménez for 12.5 million
• Palacios for 10 million
• Jacobo Ortega for 10 million
• Fran García for 4 million
• Mario Martín for 3 million
• Fran González for 3 million

On top of the immediate income, the club have retained percentages of future sales for many of these players, a clear sign this is not just a cash-out strategy but a long game built on belief in their trajectories.

And it may not be over yet. There is strong interest in others — Sisteró, Yáñez, Juan Martínez — as the market keeps knocking on La Fábrica’s door.

So Manuel Ángel and David Jiménez keep training, waiting for the call that will change everything. Real Madrid keep counting, watching the academy evolve from a talent factory into a financial powerhouse.

The next question is no longer whether La Fábrica can produce players for elite football. It is how long the club can keep hold of them before the rest of Europe comes calling with chequebooks open.