Alvaro Carreras: The Real Madrid left-back who left for free… and has returned for €50m

Alvaro Fernandez Carreras is the latest piece in the rebuilding of Real Madrid’s defence.

The 22-year-old left-back has signed on a six-year deal from Benfica for €50m and follows the arrivals of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen from Liverpool and Bournemouth respectively for a combined fee of more than £100m.

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Carreras, known as this because Fernandez is a common surname in Spain, excelled in Portugal last season, recording nine goal involvements in 50 games (four goals, five assists), and became one of the most sought-after left-backs in Europe. Madrid had been working on the deal for several weeks and wanted to finalise it before the Club World Cup, but Benfica wanted him to represent the Portuguese side in the United States.

His arrival is a further boost for Xabi Alonso’s project. It caps a remarkable turnaround in Carreras’ career with Madrid, after his first spell in their academy from 2017-2020, before Manchester United let him slip through their grasp. But Madrid are also investing a significant sum in a player who left for nothing when he was part of their academy.

As an important academy source from the time Carreras was there — who, like all those cited in this article, asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships — said: “Many at the club have to hide now: how can a boy who left like that cost you €50m today?”

Two seasons ago he was playing for Preston North End in England’s second tier — now he is set to become Alonso’s first-choice left-back.

So, how did Carreras get here?

Carreras was born into a close-knit family in Ferrol, Galicia, around 600 kilometres to the northwest of Madrid and some 560 kilometres to the north of Portugal, in 2003.

His father, Francisco, remains a Civil Guard there (one of two law enforcement agencies in Spain) while his mother, Paula, is a housewife. They had three children: Francisco, the eldest, Alvaro and Paula, their younger sister.

Carreras quickly became enthralled with football at his hometown team, Racing Ferrol, who were relegated from the Spanish second division this year. One of the first people to see him up close was the then sporting director Juancar Fernandez.

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“Ferrol is not very big, so we always had a good relationship with the family and knew of Alvaro,” he tells The Athletic. “We brought him up with the team. He always had a good physique, but he stood out above all for the quality and talent he had. You saw tremendous potential.

“He’s the opposite of tall, clumsy players. He has always played on the wing. That power, that elegance in his run is a characteristic that he showed since he was little.”

Carreras at Racing Ferrol (Photo courtesy of Racing Ferrol)

After spells with Racing, Galicia de Caranza and Deportivo La Coruna — Spanish champions in 2000 and one of the two biggest teams in the region along with Celta Vigo — turned their attention to him in 2012.

It was at Deportivo where Carreras’ talent really shone — in a group all born in 2003 that the club remain proud of.

“Seven players from that team have gone on to professional football, some of them are still at Deportivo, like Dani Barcia or Hugo Rios. They were good, but they have exceeded our expectations,” says their first coach in Depor’s youth academy, David Lagar, who is now assistant coach of the first team.

“Alvaro was able to dribble, to coordinate very well. He had intelligence, he knew how to position himself. In the Iscar Cup (a prestigious youth tournament) he had an ability that surprised the rest of the coaches because of the way he slid into tackles, which was not common for those kids but could be because they trained on natural grass.”

By this time, Real Madrid had been following the player closely. Carreras moved there at the age of 14 when he was almost 6ft (around 183cm) already.

A training-ground source from the time said Carreras was “very thin” and “underdeveloped”, meaning the club could “mould” and improve his physique.

Carreras developed well. But the change of city was a shock for the whole family, especially his parents, who travelled to Madrid at weekends to be with him.

According to another source, the full-back was one of the first academy players to undergo individual training sessions — mainly to improve his acceleration.

The left-back in action for Madrid’s academy (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)

Carreras won the league in each of his three years in the Spanish capital from Under-15 to Under-17 level. But the Galician struggled to make an impact in his final year at the club, 2019-20, with Tristan Celador as coach. Celador will now be one of Alonso’s assistants in the first team.

At the time, David de la Vibora was seen as the club’s most promising left-back prospect and Celador used Carreras as a midfielder instead.

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United had been monitoring the situation and made their move to sign him with a lucrative contract offer, described as “spectacular” by one Madrid source.

“He had a lot of balls because he (Carreras) told the club that they didn’t believe in him,” the source continues.

Although there was a counter-offer, it was too late and he was off to England. As he was nearing the end of his contract, he left for free.

“At the time, we were locked in (because of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020). We had a video call with United’s bosses, the scouts who are here in Spain, and they were translating for me, because I had no idea of English,” Carreras said in an interview with The Athletic in December 2023, when he was on loan at Granada.

Before the UK’s exit from the European Union, which led to English clubs being banned from signing foreign under-18s for their academies, Carreras was part of a move by United to sign several promising Spanish-born players — including now-Argentina international Alejandro Garnacho and Marc Jurado, now at Espanyol’s ‘B’ team.

Carreras impressed many at United with his focus on and off the pitch. He quickly picked up English and settled, helped by his brother Fran moving over with him

Carreras won United’s under-23 player of the year award in 2022 and was soon training with the first team. He had also earned call ups to the Spain under-19 and under-21 teams after impressing Francis Hernandez, the head of the youth teams at the Spanish football federation (RFEF).

The arrival of Erik ten Hag as head coach in place of Ralf Rangnick was a turning point for Carreras. The Spaniard was valued for his speed and attacking prowess, but those behind the scenes felt he needed to improve defensively.

“What message did United give me? That I should go out on loan, that Ten Hag didn’t count on me, that I should continue to gain experience, rhythm, and we’ll see what happens in the future,” Carreras said in the interview with The Athletic.

Carreras applauds fans at Preston (Dave Howarth – CameraSport via Getty Images)

During the 2022-23 season, the Spaniard went on loan to Preston in the Championship, the English second tier — where he played 42 games in all competitions and the team finished 12th in the division.

“We took the opportunity for him to play as a wing-back. We helped him develop defensively because he was obviously an attacking full-back, he made a lot of assists (six) and it was a very good season for him,” says Ryan Lowe, Preston’s manager at the time.

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“At Preston it was very cold and rainy but the weather didn’t affect him: he was like a real Englishman. I always remember him with a great attitude and I tried to get him on loan with us again the following season because he was that good.

“I was always making sure they (the players) made recovery runs. Every time he made one and got the ball back, Alvaro made sure I saw it.

“He reminds me a bit of Trent Alexander-Arnold but at left-back. They are both very intelligent on the pitch. As I’m a Liverpool fan, I’ll be happy to see both of them at a team like Madrid.”

Carreras went on loan to La Liga side Granada instead the following season — but by January he was on the move again as United cashed in.

Carreras was disappointed not to get a chance at first-team at United, who instead signed Tyrell Malacia as a back-up to Luke Shaw, although the Dutchman has struggled at left-back since. Ruben Amorim’s wing-back system would have suited Carreras perfectly. But Ten Hag sanctioned his sale, feeling he was not robust enough in defence.

“I am a little surprised he didn’t get more of a chance,” says Neil Wood, his former United Under-23s manager. “When I left to go to Salford (in 2022), I had a good chat with him and my challenge to him was to go and challenge the likes of Luke Shaw for the left-back position. I think he was capable of doing that.

“Maybe it wasn’t the right time to put him straight into the first-team, but maybe if they had a plan for him at that stage to go a club on loan… that would have been a smart decision. If he was there (at United) now, I think he’d be really competing for the No 1 left-back spot.”

He signed for Benfica on loan with an option to buy for €6million. United retained an option to buy for €18m but included a sell-on clause which meant they received 20 per cent of any fee for him that was more than €6m purchasing price.

Carreras’ career took off in Lisbon. He was one of the few full-backs who went toe-to-toe with Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal in last season’s Champions League, playing against the teenage winger in a madcap league phase encounter and in the second leg of their round-of-16 tie.

Carreras had a good battle with Yamal during last season’s Champions League (Valter Gouveia/Sports Press Photo/Getty Images)

In March, Madrid started to lay the groundwork for signing a left-back in this transfer window. Their focus soon turned to a player they knew well from his time in the youth system. Other candidates such as Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez and Bayer Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo were considered, but Carreras became the club’s priority.

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Even so, some inside and outside the club were surprised Madrid did not activate an €8m option they had to re-sign another former academy left-back, Miguel Gutierrez, now at Girona, before June 30 in favour of spending so much on Carreras. It is certainly a change from the favourable buy-back clauses and rights of first refusal Madrid have often inserted into deals when other academy graduates have left.

The saga over Carreras’ signing took a toll on the player himself. Benfica president Rui Costa is known for being a tough negotiator and was conscious of losing Carreras in a year in which he is up for re-election. Madrid could have paid the €50m release clause for Carreras up front but wanted to do it in instalments, which led to a delay — while Benfica also wanted the left-back to play for them at the Club World Cup. A source close to Carreras said, “they can’t ruin a young kid’s dream” when it appeared as if the move had stalled. Carreras played in Benfica’s opening two games of the Club World Cup before sitting out their final one against Bayern Munich with a yellow card suspension and being benched for their round-of-16 match against Chelsea.

But now his dream has come true. Carreras is a Real Madrid player once more — and set to play a key role in Alonso’s revolution.

Additional reporting: Laurie Whitwell

(Top photos: Getty Images)

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