Three million euros, and the deal was done
Racing Santander confirmed the departure on Monday morning. Sergio Martinez, 19, is a Real Madrid player after Los Blancos paid his release clause in full, all 3 million euros of it. The Cantabrian club put the news out on its own channels.
The contract runs to 2030. Four full years for a teenager nobody expects to see in the first team any time soon.
Three million is loose change in La Liga now. It is also the figure that let Madrid get in front of Barcelona and Atletico, both of whom were watching the player according to AS. In Spain, a release clause set too low remains the sharpest weapon the big clubs own.
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1.88m in the middle of the park
Martinez is a holding midfielder who can push higher when asked. At 1.88m he brings something scarce: real height in a position where most of the interesting young Spanish players are small and quick.
He broke into Racing’s first team last season and scored against Villarreal. Goals like that move a transfer file to the top of somebody’s desk.
Madrid are in no hurry with him. He goes to Castilla first, and a step up to the senior squad only comes later, if it comes. The Bernabeu has run this play many times before.
The Guler blueprint, again
Real signed Arda Guler at 18 and that gamble has aged well. Martinez fits the same template, bought early and cheaply, parked in the reserves, developed on Madrid’s terms.
The arithmetic behind it barely needs explaining. A few million now, or a great deal more once he has a season in a top league behind him. Spanish academies and selling clubs keep losing this argument, largely because they keep writing clauses that big clubs can pay without blinking.
How long he stays at Castilla is anyone’s guess.
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