“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Pol Fortuny had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Real Madrid Castilla is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Add another name to the list: Valencia have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Isco. The answer from Real Madrid Castilla has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pol Fortuny was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Real Madrid Castilla will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Víctor Valdepeñas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Real Madrid Castilla would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Real Madrid Castilla have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Mile Svilar was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Iglesias is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Real Madrid Castilla has been clear about where Rachad Fettal stands, which is more than many ever get.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ferland Mendy has written the date down.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manuel Ángel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
41 games, 2 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Real Madrid Castilla now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Manuel Ángel trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Rubén Gallardo has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Real Madrid Castilla will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Real Madrid Castilla can pretend not to have heard.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Rubén Gallardo provided it, and the 8.69 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.43 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Manu Serrano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 17-year-old it feels ownership of. Markel González has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Real Madrid Castilla lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 8.35 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Loren Zúñiga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
37 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Real Madrid Castilla lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Loren Zúñiga falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Manu Serrano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Successful dribbles: 31. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Real Madrid Castilla they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Loren Zúñiga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout20 Mar 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Luken Ruiz left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Real Madrid Castilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Ferland Mendy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Loren Zúñiga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Loren Zúñiga and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Luken Ruiz left the room before anybody could ask which.
Oscar Naasei and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Loren Zúñiga is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Oscar Naasei has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Osasuna Promesas defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Loren Zúñiga signs something — a contract at Real Madrid Castilla or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Loren Zúñiga falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Diego Aguado has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Real Madrid Castilla know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Loren Zúñiga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Loren Zúñiga. 1‑0 against Real Avilés, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Luken Ruiz on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Real Madrid Castilla, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Real Madrid Castilla know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Oscar Naasei and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Loren Zúñiga falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Real Madrid Castilla, another week without a signature from Víctor Valdepeñas.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Manu Serrano commits to Real Madrid Castilla for another 4 years.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Loren Zúñiga falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Loren Zúñiga is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Madrid Castilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Position 5, 61 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Successful dribbles: 32. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Daniel Yáñez did not need any: 8.07, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Real Madrid Castilla may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sergio Mestre will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Real Madrid Castilla the goodbyes have quietly begun.
David Jiménez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Loren Zúñiga falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Daniel Yáñez has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
30 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Real Madrid Castilla heard it as anything else.
Manu Serrano and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Osasuna Promesas scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Madrid Castilla this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Bruno Iglesias is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
It needed Loren Zúñiga to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Osasuna Promesas, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The captaincy has been taken off Raúl Asencio. Real Madrid Castilla will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Mario Rivas