Former Manchester United Player Alvaro Carreras Joins Real Madrid From Benfica—-Real Madrid have just confirm the addition Manchester United academy player Alvaro Carreras from Benfica after his stellar season with with the Portuguese giant for the just concluded 2024/25 season.
Carreras has signed a six-year deal with his former club, running to 2031, and is set to be presented to supporters on Tuesday afternoon.
The Athletic reported on July 10 that the two clubs had agreed to a deal worth €50million (£43.18m, $58.42m) that sees the Spain youth international return to Madrid after spending time in their academy.
Manchester United, who signed Carreras from Real in 2020, negotiated a sell-on clause worth 20 per cent of any profit on a future transfer when they sold the defender to Benfica, so will earn around €8.8m from the deal.
Madrid had been working on a deal for the 22-year-old for several weeks and had hoped to complete the signing before the Club World Cup, but Benfica also wanted him to represent them at the tournament in the United States.
Carreras joined Madrid in 2017 from Deportivo La Coruna and spent three years in the team’s academy before joining United in 2020. He never appeared for the senior side and had loan spells at English Championship club Preston North End and Spanish club Granada before moving to Benfica in January 2024, initially on a sixth-month loan deal. The move was made permanent at the end of the season.
Madrid have been moving to reinvent their defence, having already completed the signings of Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool and Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth. They have also signed 17-year-old midfielder Franco Mastantuono from River Plate.
Xabi Alonso was appointed as the team’s head coach in May, replacing Carlo Ancelotti.
‘A homegrown answer at left-back’
Analysis by Real Madrid correspondent Guillermo Rai
Madrid have lacked consistency at left-back due to repeated injuries suffered by Ferland Mendy and a lack of confidence in Fran Garcia in recent years, so Carreras’ signing was key for Los Blancos.
They previously explored the possibility of signing Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies in that position before the Canada international renewed with the Bundesliga side earlier this year.
Carreras spent three years in the youth ranks at Madrid from 2017-2020 but a lack of opportunities led to him joining Manchester United’s academy. The left-back shone there and was named their best Under-23 player in 2022, when he started training with the first team.
But the Spaniard was not part of Erik Ten Hag’s plans and was sent on loan to Preston North End, Granada and Benfica. It was a wide range of experiences in the space of two years which saw him join Benfica permanently last year.
Madrid will also be pleased to bring in another homegrown player, a key requirement for their Champions League squad, after the exit of several academy graduates over recent years.
