Stars currently playing for AC Milan, Tottenham, and Como are among the former Real Madrid youth players who have buy-back clauses in their contracts.
While Real Madrid boasts a proud record of nurturing young talent, not every emerging player can meet the high expectations at the Santiago Bernabeu. To ensure they safeguard their valuable young assets, the club typically includes a buy-back clause in the contract when selling some of their prized youth players.
We have analyzed the contracts of several former players and discovered that five of them possess active buy-back provisions.
Nico Paz
Real Madrid transferred Paz to Como for a fee estimated to be around £5 million in the summer.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid was wise enough to include a 50% sell-on clause in the deal, accompanied by a buy-back option that can be activated in the summer.
Under the supervision of Cesc Fabregas at Como, Paz has continually shown improvement. The dynamic attacking midfielder has already made eight goal contributions in Serie A and is currently averaging a goal or assist every 183.9 minutes.
He is undoubtedly a standout, especially considering he's relatively new to the scene, and many top European clubs are now taking an interest in him.
According to reports from Italy, Inter are "crazy" about Paz, although they will likely have to negotiate with Real Madrid over the summer as the Spanish giants aim to exercise their buy-back clause.
The transfer fee for returning Paz to Spain is estimated to be £7.5 million, which is a relatively small sum compared to his current market value.
Miguel Gutierrez
Madrid might consider bringing back Gutierrez, who has made progress since joining Girona in 2022.
The dynamic left-back made just 10 senior appearances for Madrid, but the club was well aware of his exceptional potential when they chose to release him.
Due to this, the club negotiated a buy-back clause into his contract with Girona, as well as a 50% sell-on clause.
The 23-year-old has been in excellent condition lately, with 14 goal contributions in La Liga over the past 18 months.
Manchester United have taken notice of the 23-year-old, who is now a 'concrete' target for Ruben Amorim.
Even if Madrid decide not to re-sign Gutierrez, they will be entitled to a substantial sum of money due to the 50% sell-on clause in his contract.
Alex Jimenez
Jimenez never made a senior appearance for Real Madrid, but the club included a purchase option in his contract when transferring him to AC Milan.
The young player initially signed with the Italian team on a loan for the 2023-24 season, before the transfer became permanent the following season.
In total, the 19-year-old has made 13 senior appearances for Milan, yet he has primarily played for their U23 side in Serie C this season.
Madrid have the option to re-sign him for $7.5 million in 2025, but that figure will rise to $10 millions if triggered in 2026.
However, according to reports from Italy, Milan are eager to renegotiate the terms of Jimenez's contract, as they wish to eliminate Real Madrid's option to regain his services.
Sergio Reguilon
Following Reguilón's transfer to Tottenham Hotspur in 2020, Real Madrid included a reported £27.5million buy-back option in the agreement.
Although Reguilon was a key player in his initial two seasons at the London-based club, he has since dropped down the team's priority list and has been loaned out for most of the last four years.
He's back with Tottenham now, after loan stints with Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Brentford, but has only made five appearances so far this season.
It appears unlikely that Real Madrid will return to the transfer market anytime in the near future to sign him.
Javi Sanchez
Sanchez joined the Madrid academy at the age of eight and went on to make five senior appearances for the club, before he was transferred out in 2020.
While Spanish centre-half hadn't quite done well for himself at the Santiago Bernabeu, he has performed satisfactorily since joining Real Valladolid.
The 27-year-old has earned over 100 appearances with the La Liga club, whom he currently leads as captain.
Despite Madrid inserting a buy-back clause into his deal with Valladolid, they have never been very close to exercising that clause.