The Real Madrid Sentinel
Market17 Aug 2026
Vinícius Júnior asks to leave Real Madrid
“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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Door shut on Alberto Moleiro
Real Madrid asked and Villarreal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market17 Aug 2026
Borussia Dortmund come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Real Madrid did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Real Madrid
Vinícius Júnior and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Graduation day at Real Madrid
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Rachad Fettal stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rachad Fettal and Real Madrid agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market17 Aug 2026
Andrés Nieto steps up from the Real Madrid academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andrés Nieto has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market17 Aug 2026
Real Madrid promote Javier Álvarez from within
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Javier Álvarez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Real Madrid sign off a bigger ground
A capacity of 101979 on the plans. A decision judged twenty years from now, by people who were not in the room and will have opinions anyway.
In brief
- Squad 7 new faces, and Real Madrid are still learning each other
- Squad Isco is a square peg at Real Madrid
- Looking ahead Marc Cucurella goes back to face Getafe