Real Madrid finally sign Kylian Mbappe this summer (and the Frenchman wants it to happen and PSG are resigned to it happening) then the Spanish club will have the best Under 25 team in world football – one that could dominate the game for a decade.
And it will be the result of years of working the transfer market more effectively than any other club in world football.
First came the huge shift in philosophy from signing the biggest names for the biggest fees – something that has been Paris Saint-Germain’s greatest error in 10 years of failing to win the Champions League.
And then came their management of the Mbappe situation – stepping back from any stratospheric offer for him last summer but also keeping a space for him in the squad by replacing the outgoing Karim Benzema with only 33-year-old sure-bet journeyman centre-forward Joselu.
It was an open invitation for Mbappe to see out the final year of his contract without signing a new deal.
Kylian Mbappe has reportedly chosen to sign for Real Madrid next season
Real Madrid have chased the Paris Saint-Germain superstar for over two years now
The sweeping up of the best young talent has been largely down to chief scout Juni Calafat who has proved time an again over the last decade that he can deliver on the most difficult of challenges.
In 2013 he was tasked with making sure the club never again missed out on the best young talent coming out of Brazil, as they had done with Neymar.
And the Madrid-born talent spotter who grew up in Brazil delivered with the capture of Vinicius, Rodrygo and now teenage striker Endrick who will be in the first team squad next summer.
Calafat has also been behind the successful replacement of the club’s greatest ever midfielder of Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
With Casemiro long gone and Modric set to leave at the end of the season Madrid’s midfield now revolves around Aurelien Tchouameni, Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga.
It’s true that financial muscle helped them outbid Liverpool for Tchouameni but they signed Camavinga when he was only 19 and the rest of Europe had not yet woken up to his huge talent.
‘Project Youth’ has not finished yet with 18-year-old Arder Guler edging closer to full fitness having arrived from Fenerbahce in the summer for €20million. And home grown 19-year-old Nico Paz has already made four appearances having starred in the B-team’s midfield with seven goals.
