Real Madrid accused ‘vulture’ scouting strategy for recruitment of starlets

Real Madrid have made it a trait of their recruitment to bring in the most talented young players in the game over the last five years, and it is one that has worked wonders for them. The progress of Rodrygo Goes, Vinicius Junior and Arda Guler have so far considerably outweighed the disappointing additions, with the flag for that category being borne by Reinier Jesus.

Los Blancos have got to many of these players ahead of other top European clubs, with Barcelona initially pursuing Vinicius and Guler, while Chelsea were keen on Endrick Felipe beforehand.

At the most recent ‘Copinha’, the name for the Sao Paulo under-20 State Championship, the stands were filled with scouts from across Europe’s top clubs, including Barcelona, Chelsea, and PSG. Yet there was no presence from Real Madrid at the competition to the surprise of some.

According to Sport, this is not unusual in one of the markets that Los Blancos have dominated in recent years. They allege that Real Madrid do not rely on a wide network of scouts in the region, but rather keep their ear to the ground for activity from Europe’s other best scouting systems. Once another of Europe’s top clubs has identified a talent, Real Madrid will consider scouting them, and then start to make moves in order to be in the best position to sign them.

Their scouting strategy is led by Head Scout Juni Calafat, who was key in securing the signatures of Vinicius, Rodrygo and most recently Endrick. If that is the case, it is certainly a smart way of going about the matter and reducing resource use, provided they can carry it out effectively. So far, so good for Calafat and Real Madrid.