From Carreras to Lukaku, return to these clubs which pay fortunes to repatriate talents which they had themselves lets spin.
Real Madrid has just spent
Almost 60 million euros to repatriate álvaro Carreras, A side trained in Valdebebas and left for Manchester United in 2020. Four years later, and after a detour by Benfica, the Spaniard returns to the house … at a high price. An operation reminiscent of an absurd logic: paying to recover what we already had. Like several clubs, the Merengues act, without saying, an initial strategic error. And this trend is expensive, in money as in credibility.
Carreras is not an isolated case. Paul Pogba undoubtedly remains the most emblematic example: let go for free to Juventus in 2012, he was bought by Manchester United in 2016 for € 105 million, a world record at the time. The tricolor environment, supposed to embody the renewal of Red Devils, has never really confirmed expectations. Same implicit admission on the side of Chelsea with Romelu Lukaku: sold for € 35 million, bought for 115 M € in 2021 after a coronation with Inter. Result: two successive loans and a return to square one.
They pay for their mistakes: these clubs that buy their own young people
In Barcelona, the acquisition of Cesc Fàbregas illustrates the same logic. As a teenager at Arsenal, he returned in 2011 against 40 M €, while he came out of a captain's status at the Gunners. The person concerned will recognize that the Catalan club had undoubtedly “overpayed to correct past management”. And the list is getting longer: Morata, Hummels, Diego Costa … So many talents bought at high prices after being sold too early or without anticipation.
Why are these round trips so expensive? Because they often result from bad timing, lack of vision or marketing pressure. The revenge of the child prodigies sells dreams, especially on social networks and in shops. But these ratings disguised as a storytelling sometimes cost a fortune. And the buyout clauses, when they exist, are often undervalued.
The Carreras case recalls that homemade DNA sometimes has an exorbitant price. While training centers are supposed to amortize costs, they sometimes become sources of spending to six zeros. And the question remains open: who will be the next crack to come back through the big door … against a big check?
