Real Madrid scouts fed up with treatment by club

Real Madrid recently held an annual meeting of their scouting network across Spain, and while debates continue over the function of 'La Fabrica' or the Factory as their academy is known, a disenfranchised workforce cannot help the situation.

President Florentino Perez defended their work in the academy, saying it was the best in the world, citing the number of players in the top five European leagues who have come through the ranks of Valdebebas. Yet their focus has been on producing players who can make it anywhere in the top flight, rather than at Real Madrid in the senior team.

Undoubtedly, many of the best talents in Spain are nurtured by Los Blancos, but their recruitment efforts demand a lot from their scouts. Relevo reports that their scouts normally earn around $500 a month, and are sometimes sent across the empty plains with little reward. The club pays some of their expenses, such as gas money, but what they pay has not increased with fuel prices recently. Real Madrid also does not pay the bill for any maintenance or repairs. The entire scouting team has a one-year contract, with no guarantee of their jobs next year.

In addition to finances, they also complain that their reports and information are too often discarded or not taken into account, with some areas being far less visited by the club's recruitment department than others.

Another frustration is a general lack of attention to them. During their annual meeting in Valdebebas, the scouts spent time in the facilities and academy ahead of the clash between Los Blancos and Osasuna at the Santiago Bernabeu. The expectation was that they would then attend the match, but instead the club left them in Valdebebas to watch the match on a big screen.