Real Madrid is building the Galacticos of the future

It's almost 10:45 pm when in the Nuevos Ministerios area of Madrid, Real Madrid fans realize that next year one of the best under-20 talents in the world will be playing for them. It is Brazilian Endrick who scores the goal at the 50th minute of the temporary 2-2 between Spain and Brazil. For the attacker, born in 2007, it is the second goal in a few days of being called up to the national team, after the one scored against England at Wembley. He, who was paid 35 million euros plus 25 million in bonuses, could be the next star of a galactic Real Madrid under 25. For those who write and were teenagers in the 2010s, playing Pro Evolution Soccer meant building nonsensical teams, and Real Madrid was the reference point. Ronaldo, Beckham, Zidane, Roberto Carlos, Figo, Guti, Raul Gonzalez Blanco of course, but how can we forget about other more subtle heroes like Casillas, Michel Salgado, and Steve McManaman. In modern football, that Real Madrid team coached by Vicente del Bosque was the expression on and off the pitch of how we understand football today.

Faces of players everywhere on televisions and cell phones, branded cleats, appearances in Hollywood blockbusters. Just look at the Nike commercials from the Joga Bonito series from the early 2000s to understand that the likes of Haaland, Mbappé, Vinicius, and Foden, once had all the faces of Real Madrid players. A climate that today, President Florentino Perez has recreated, campaign after campaign, in the realm of instant watching and performance, in the new Santiago Bernabeu. The current team may still need to complete some downloads in terms of maturity, given the many young players on the roster, but these Next Gen players, from South America to Europe, are shaping up to be the future of football. The value of the Real Madrid squad in 2023-24, according to Transfermarkt, is over one billion euros, and off the field, the value of the players is just as high. From Jude Bellingham - the most expensive footballer in the world according to the German portal - to Vinicius Junior, from Camavinga to Rodrygo, the young talents of Real are the face of the present and future of football-entertainment. To which, and most likely after a long soap opera, Kylian Mbappé will join - of whom we will not waste time explaining the commercial and iconographic impact on the Madrid world. Let's start with Bellingham.

The English footballer is the symbol of England 4.0, the new generation of English players, and just like his experience with Real, he is also becoming familiar with the fashion system. His iconic celebration, which will soon become the logo of his Signature Line for adidas, and his exuberant personality on and off the field have already attracted the interest of numerous fashion brands, who obviously see him as a perfect spokesperson at a time when footballers have become true global superstars. He has recently become the face of Louis Vuitton, as well as the main cover man for Real Madrid and adidas, to the point that the German brand has positioned him alongside Zidane, the number 5 who preceded him in the Galacticos, as the spokesperson for the new Y-3 and Real Madrid collection. Needless to say, from the start, the British and international press have compared Bellingham to the role of the new Beckham. The frontman of English football who moves to Madrid and becomes, in addition to a footballer, a superstar. Bellingham was in Paris for Fashion Week, with his brother Jobe posting photos on social media as sneakerheads and mingling with the Instagram jet set, from LA to London. If the Englishman is the king of Madrid for adidas, the prince on the left flank is Nike's. Vinicius Junior is without too many frills the star of the new Brazilian wave - a football and life philosophy that has always been greatly appreciated in Madrid by Blancos.

Another style icon is David Alaba, who has been in Madrid for two seasons after spending about five years at Bayern Munich. A regular at fashion shows from Milan to Paris and the owner of his own brand, DA27, the Austrian footballer is one of the paradigms of the modern footballer, like Mbappe, Rashford, or Leao. Players who are carving out a voice and image at high levels even outside the football universe. And just like in Carlo Ancelotti's team, there are players ready to secure a spot on the cover of the next EA Sports. Rodrygo, Arda Guler, Lunin, the next Brazilian crack Endrick, who has already made his debut at the Bernabeu. Combining these iconic players off the field with the commercial potential of being one of the strongest teams in the world would mean recreating the landscape of artistic football that, as many experts have confirmed, was the beginning of the football show system as we know it today. Just with more fashion, more screens, more followers, and a lot more money.