Real Madrid’s youth team quarry and Barcelona’s La Masia dominate the production of top footballers in Spain.
Many players who never go on to make it big for either of the clubs have still spent time there, and one of those is Leeds United’s Samu Saiz.
Spanish newspaper Marca have an article on Monday looking at the 50 most promising Real Madrid youngsters at the turn of the decade, and Saiz is included in the list.
Alongside some stars like Dani Carvajal, Nacho Fernandez, Mariano and Lucas Vazquez, there’s also players who didn’t make the grade at all and were forced to retire, like Alvaro Lopez who won the U17 championship with Spain, as a captain.
For Saiz, Marca say he ‘always had a character’ and then reference his Leeds United ban for spitting, which would suggest they mean he was always a bit fiery.
After leaving Real Madrid’s La Fabrica in 2011, where he’d been since the age of 8, Saiz joined UD Melilla. He then moved to Getafe B, Almeria B and Atletico Madrid B before signing for Huesca and doing enough to catch the eye of Leeds United.
Given some of the 50 have retired, some play in countries like Cyprus and Gibraltar, and a good number are at the lower levels of Spanish football, 27 year old Saiz hasn’t done too badly.
