Real Madrid is Robbing the Cradle

[SuperHornet]

They just signed a 7-year-old from Argentina.

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slu ... id-prodigy

[dal4018]

They just signed a 7-year-old from Argentina.

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slu ... id-prodigy

Nothing new Division 1 schools are recruiting young kids as well USC(Cal) recruited a 13 yr old to play football from Delaware

[Grizalltheway]

They just signed a 7-year-old from Argentina.

And here I thought a family being lifted out of poverty was a good thing.

[SuperHornet]

They just signed a 7-year-old from Argentina.

And here I thought a family being lifted out of poverty was a good thing.

That's probably exactly what's going to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if Dear Old Dad is living it up while Leo himself doesn't see one red cent.

[Grizalltheway]

And here I thought a family being lifted out of poverty was a good thing.

That's probably exactly what's going to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if Dear Old Dad is living it up while Leo himself doesn't see one red cent.

Yeah...that's how it works.

[Skjellyfetti]

Not seeing what's so horrible about this.

[Grizalltheway]

Not seeing what's so horrible about this.

Well, I'm sure you have at least some inkling of how the European soccer youth development system works, whereas SH is just talking out of his ass, as per usual.

[Rob Iola]

Is he sailing around the world solo first before joining the RM youth academy?

[andy7171]

And here I thought a family being lifted out of poverty was a good thing.

That's probably exactly what's going to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if Dear Old Dad is living it up while Leo himself doesn't see one red cent.

Yeah, because once he turns 18 he'll be ready to retire, right? Only to find his father spent his minor league/development league money on booze and whores.

[Grizalltheway]

Honestly, I can't imagine a better experience for a 7 year old than to go off to a different country, get a free education (a better one than he'd get in Argentina, too) and develop into a world class soccer player with one of the biggest clubs in the world. Fuckin' SH.

[DukeJack]

That's probably exactly what's going to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if Dear Old Dad is living it up while Leo himself doesn't see one red cent.

Yeah, because once he turns 18 he'll be ready to retire, right? Only to find his father spent his minor league/development league money on booze and whores.

No the kid doesn't get paid at all - he's an amateur. His schooling, food, board, everything's covered by the team and structured around practice time. What these elite teams usually do to entice the family to allow the kid to sign is to give them a job within the club - Barcelona typically hires a parent as a "janitor" or "groundskeeper" for over $150,000/year.

Odds are that the kid will wash out of Real's academy by the time he's 14-15 and if he's lucky gets picked up by a lesser team like Atletico Madrid and if he's really lucky then he'll make his pro debut sometime between 17-19.

Big teams like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester United, they bring in 80 kids a year per age group and if only 1-2 make the pro team when they grow up that class is considered a success. Everyone else gets thrown out on the street with absolutely no regard to the complete lack of life skills they have.

[Skjellyfetti]

edit, nm video was a fake

[EPJr]

And here I thought a family being lifted out of poverty was a good thing.

That's probably exactly what's going to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if Dear Old Dad is living it up while Leo himself doesn't see one red cent.

he will get a free private school education for the ten years
and a guarantee not to get raped and/or killed before he is an adult

[Skjellyfetti]

and a guarantee not to get raped and/or killed before he is an adult

WTF.

I hope he has that guarantee in writing.