This season could be historic for Castilla — but not in a good way

On 25 June 2023, Real Madrid Castilla came within touching distance of getting promoted to the Segunda Division – the second-highest tier of Spanish football – as they lost on penalties away at Eldense. Shortly after, several key figures at Castilla started leaving, on the consensus that they had outgrown Castilla. Rafa Marin, Sergio Arribas, and Carlos Dotor were just some of the pillars of that rather experienced Castilla side, who left the club for greener pastures. Of course, everyone was disappointed about not clinching promotion, but not many people lost hope because the general expectation was for Real Madrid to keep investing money in Castilla as they had been for the last decade, perhaps even more.

Well, fast forward three transfer windows, and as of now, two days before the end of the third one, Castilla have only signed two players (both of them were signed in January and have played less than 300 combined minutes for the team so far). We’ve gotten so used to this as the new normal, but it is anything but that.

Castilla have always been this team that, every season, go through loads of arrivals and a similar amount of departures. But it seems like that day, on the 25th of June, something changed in the minds of the higher-ups at Real Madrid; it seemed like they no longer wanted to invest in Castilla from that point on, maybe because they thought Castilla had achieved what it possibly could’ve for the next few years, and it was now time to become dormant.

For Real Madrid, La Fabrica and Castilla have been important sources of revenue generation in the current century, especially as of the last few years – Real Madrid boast the highest number of players from any academy that are playing in Europe’s top five leagues. For it to continue, there needs to be a certain level of external investment made in Castilla every year by the club, especially due to how quickly new players come and go in this set-up. If that does not happen, the club will have to keep promoting players from their youth academy to Castilla, which, in theory, does not sound like a bad idea.

In reality, however, it has a genuine chance of putting the value of playing at Castilla at risk, because even though there are plenty of good players that come through the youth ranks, external signings are just as important, if not more, especially when the academy is going through a sluggish period.

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That is what Real Madrid have been doing for the last year or so, and it showed last season – Castilla were at their worst in a very long time, being at a slight risk of battling relegation but ultimately finishing 10th after a bunch of good results.

Since then, they have lost some more important players: Nico Paz, Rafa Obrador, Theo Zidane, and potentially Alvaro Rodriguez, are just some of the starters who have moved on to professional football clubs in Europe. Paz – who was by far Castilla’s best player last season – has left and the club decided not to go for any replacement, which still baffles me to this day.

The player that had, at least provisionally, replaced Paz was Reinier Jesus, who is obviously too good to play for Castilla and is looking to get a move to a top-level club in the next day or two. The boys on the Castilla Corner group chat have been selfishly hoping every day that Reinier decides to stay at Castilla – which, in theory, should do wonders for his confidence and continuity, even though it does not seem, on paper, like the best idea for a player who has played in top leagues. It is a selfish move on our part, but that may be the only man who can save Castilla from a relegation battle, should things stay the same. Let’s go deep into this.

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Reinier is obviously too good – but the fact that he is too good makes us want to beg him to stay at the club. Real Madrid, for the second straight summer transfer window, have not put any money into Castilla, and they have seen a squad that was already weak, get weaker. Two of the players who could’ve made a mark (Cesar Palacios and Joan Martinez) have both got ACL injuries, keeping them out for potentially the entire season. If there was ANY window where Real Madrid needed to invest money into Castilla for their own good, for their own survival, it was this one.

Reinier staying at the club raises the floor and the ceiling of this team – and takes them from battling relegation, to mid-table or even playoff contention standards all by himself. No one at Real Madrid actually wants Reinier to keep playing for Castilla – Raul hasn’t even registered him as a player so far – but the situation in which Real Madrid have put Castilla forces us to hope that he stays for Castilla’s sake.

Reinier is someone who has played in top leagues in the past, and should not be wasted in the third division of Spain. However, people also need to realise that he isn’t getting any offers from those top-level clubs anymore. Him staying at Castilla wouldn’t be as bad as people think, because there have not been many offers, even from second-division clubs, for the Brazillian. As I said, it is probably not going to happen – and maybe it shouldn’t happen for Reinier’s sake – Real Madrid will try to find a way to let him go. But the chances aren’t zero.

There is a case where Castilla get relegated. The chances of that happening are slim, but they are higher than ever before, and if that happens, Castilla would be in trouble. It wouldn’t just be Castilla, either: Real Madrid C, who are currently playing in the fourth division of Spain (after winning the fifth division by some margin last season) would be automatically relegated because they can’t compete in the same division as Castilla. That leaves two teams in a bad spot.

Let’s also look at it from a different perspective: If Castilla get relegated, who would actually want to play for them in the fourth division? These players come to Castilla to not just have a potential pathway to the first team, but also to play competitive football against grown, potential football players which gives them a lot to fight for and a lot to learn. If Castilla get relegated, they would have to resort to playing against footballers who don’t even play the sport full-time. Which player would think that this is the best scenario for their development?

It would become difficult for Castilla to sign talented players. They’d get some because of the name of the club, but most players would look to go to teams like Barcelona Athletic, Villarreal B, Real Sociedad B, or some other great ‘B teams’ in Spain. Just the thought of Castilla in the fourth tier seems very wrong to me, and there needs to be something that prevents that from happening.

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“We are capable of everything, but only time will tell. We want to be on the very top,” said Raul just before the start of Castilla’s season — a 1-0 loss to newly promoted Marbella. I get it. There is a certain level of mentality and belief you need to have at this club, regardless of what situation the team is in. But, how exactly is Raul going to find a way out of this one? Maybe this entire article was a waste, maybe it is a little exaggerated and Castilla are not that bad. Maybe they will improve drastically and we would be having a very different conversation in a few months. Of course, there is a chance — they have some talented players.

But, the entire situation at this point in time is not ideal for anyone, and Raul, even at his best, cannot do much. Even though they have the talent, it still is the worst Castilla side in quite a while. It doesn’t make sense why Castilla have gone without a single signing for two summers in a row, especially after losing the majority of the players who led them to their most successful campaign in the last decade. The players who were supposed to replace the team’s best players have also left or have gotten injured, giving them yet another reason to sign players.

At the time of writing this article, there is some time left for the summer transfer window to end. Maybe Real Madrid are waiting on the sidelines and they will just announce five or six signings on deadline day and even keep Reinier for one season. There is another, more realistic scenario where Real Madrid continue to stay quiet in the market, and they also lose Reinier to a second-division club. If that is what ends up happening, then the alarm bells should keep ringing.

Raul is a good coach, and has the potential to be a great coach (even though he does not want to realise it), but even for him, getting this team to have a positive season may be too big of a task to overcome. Maybe Castilla are able to finish above the relegation spots – there is a big chance of that happening – but even then, it is not at all a good look for a club that prides itself in the amount of talent coming through it, and a coach who wants them to be on top.