Real Madrid recently made the news of their signing of Endrick Felipe, the coveted 16-year Brazilian wonderkid that the whole of Europe gushed over.
Young, entertaining, with a touch of Brazilian swagger, punters trooped to their favorite betting sites – including bookmaker crypto providers – to stake on which club Endrick would eventually sign for.
When he makes his debut for Madrid, he could be one of the youngest debutants at Bernabeu. But who are the young debutants in Real Madrid’s history?
1. Martin Odegaard
Martin Odegaard was born on December 17th, 1998 and currently plays for Arsenal FC. He began his youth career at his hometown club, Dramen, before moving to Strongodset.
Unlike his peers, he didn’t progress regularly through youth levels.
At 13, he was already training with Stromsgodset’s first team. A year later, Odegaard was the youngest player to play in the Tippeligaen at 15 years and 118 days.
However, he hadn’t signed a professional contract at the time of his debut, but he would a month later.
He had an impressive stint at Stromsgodset, which attracted the interest of Spanish heavyweights; Real Madrid.
The club secured his signature for a fee in the region of around 3 million Euros in 2015. Real Madrid sent him to play for the reserve team to aid his development.
He made 58 appearances and scored five goals for the Zinedine Zidane team.
Odegaard made his debut for Real Madrid on May 23rd, 2015, becoming the youngest player to ever play for the club at 16 years and 157 days.
He was also the youngest player to play for the Norwegian National Team, debuting at 15 years and 253 days. Odegaard made eight appearances for the Los Blancos before leaving in 2021.
2. Sebastian Losada
Sebastian Losada played as a striker during his relatively short professional career. He barely played 200 games and only scored 52 goals.
However, he remains the second youngest man to have played for Real Madrid, a record he held for 32 years.
He played the entirety of his youth career with Los Blancos and made his professional debut for the club on September 9th, 1984. Sebastian debuted when he was just 17 years and six days.
His spell at the club was far from successful, making a menial 38 appearances and scoring 13 goals. Despite his short stint at Real Madrid, he won four trophies, equalling one title every nine games.
Losada’s most prolific period with Real Madrid was in the 1989-90 season when he scored an impressive eight goals in 16 games, helping the team to a La-Liga title.
He played for other teams like RCD Espanyol, Athletico Madrid, Sevilla, and Celta de Vigo in his nine-year career.
Sebastian’s international career was equally unimpressive because he had just one senior cap for Spain. However, he did play many times for the Spanish youth teams.
3. Alberto Rivera
Alberto had a dream debut for Real Madrid when he came as a substitute in a 1995 game against Celta de Vigo aged 17 years and 114 days.
Real Madrid won the game, and he even scored in the 2-0 win. However, he made just two appearances after his debut, although he did have a successful La Liga career with other teams.
While he couldn’t break into the first team, he was popular in the reserve teams making over 150 appearances. He scored 38 goals for Real Madrid teams B and C, playing as a central midfielder.
After leaving Madrid, he played for Levante, Betis, Sporting Gijon, Marseille, and other clubs. All in all, he made over 550 career appearances and scored 62 goals.
He didn’t have any cap for the senior Spanish National team, but he played for the U-16, U-18, and U-20 youth teams.
4. Raul Gonzalez
Next on the list is one of the club’s greatest-ever players, Raul Gonzalez. Unlike most other stars on this list, he made his debut at a young age and became a legend at the club.
Raul made his first appearance for the senior team when he was just 17 years and four months.
He played 742 games for Real Madrid and scored 323 goals. Raul was Los Blancos’ highest-ever scorer before Cristiano Ronaldo smashed the record. To date, he’s the player with the most appearances in a Real Madrid shirt, amassing 15 trophies in the process.
Raul first played for a team in his hometown before moving to Athletic Madrid academy. He moved to Real Madrid academy after Atletico Madrid closed theirs as a cost-saving measure.
He went through the Real Madrid setup, made his pro debut with the team, and became a football great.
5. Samuel Eto’o
Having two of the greatest strikers of their generation among your youngest debutants goes a long way to show the potency of kind Real Madrid’s recruitment.
Samuel Eto’o joined Real Madrid’s youth academy from Kadji Sports Academy in 1997 but trained with the club’s team B due to age restrictions.
He didn’t do much at the club before he left for Mallorca. However, he made his mark as one of the club’s youngest debutants at 17 years, eight months, and 25 days. Eto’o would later play for Barcelona, Real Madrid’s bitter rivals, and he achieved unmatched success.
Samuel scored more the 350 goals in over 700 appearances in his career. He’s Cameroon’s highest-ever goal scorer and has the most caps for his country. Samuel is also the top scorer at the Africa Cup of nations.