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La Fbrica (The Factory) and La Masia (The Farmhouse), Real Madrid and Barcelonas youth academies respectively, have been responsible for producing some of the best footballers over the years. Young footballers with potential are spotted and brought to reside at these academies while they are groomed to competeat the highest level.Products of La Fabrica, from Emilio Butragueno to Iker Casillas, have contributed to Reals sporting success throughout history.In 2010, La Masia achieved a record breaking honour of becoming the first youth academy to have trained all three finalists for the BallondOr---Messi, Iniesta and Xavi.While being selected to train at La Fabrica or La Masiais a big deal in itself, only a selected few are promoted to represent Real Madrid and Barcelona. Hereis a look at a few players who could not make the jump to the senior team but still went on to make a name for themselves elsewhere.
#1 Juan Mata
Mata joined La Fabrica at the age of 15 in 2003. He made swift progress throughthe junior teams and was moved to Real Madrid B in 2006. He stayed for one season and finished as second highest scorer for his team with 10 goals.
He had a release clause in his contract which was triggeredby Valencia in March 2007, where he instantlycarved out a place for himselfin the starting 11.
#2 Mikel Arteta
As youngsters playing on the beaches and in the gutters of San Sebastien, Arteta and friend Xabi Alonso had a combined dream of playing for Real Sociedad someday.
Arteta was picked up first, at 15 years, by La Masia. Despite being immensely talented, Arteta found it hard to break into the first team and made only 42 appearances for Barcelona B in his three years there, scoring only 3 goals.
He was loaned out to PSG for a season who wanted to sign him, but was sold to Rangers the following season because it was a more lucrative deal for Barcelona.
#3 Roberto Soldado
Soldado enjoyed 4 years of prolific goalscoring for Real Madrid B from 2002 to 2006, scoring 64 goals in 120 matches, but understandably found it tough to break into a first team which boasted of frontmen like Raul, Ronaldo, Robinho, Nistelrooy and Cassano.
He was loaned out to Osasuna for a year to let him develop, but on his return made only five appearances in the 2007-08 season. Subsequently he was sold to Getafe, where he would continue scoring goals with as much frequency as he did for Real Madrid B.
#4 Thiago Motta
Motta joined Barcelona B at 17 years of age and had two successful seasons before being promoted to the first team. He was a fringe player at Barcelona for 6 years, a period during which he was also dogged by several injuries.
His recureent knee problems forced Barcelona to offload him to Atletico Madrid in 2007 for a one-season contract, where also he would spend a whole season on the sidelines. He had a total of 6 goals to his name over the 6 years he played for the Barcelona team.
#5 Esteban Cambiasso
Cambiasso spent two years as a teenager training at La Fabrica before coming back to play for Real Madrid in 2002 at age of 22, while already an Argentina international. He made 41 appearances for the senior team in his two years at the Bernabeu, but failed to find the net even once.
After his contract expired in July 2004, he joined Inter Milan where he went on to enjoy an immensely successful 10 years.
#6 Giovani dos Santos
Dos Santos was picked up as an 11-year old kid from Mexico by Barcelona scouts, and he spent 5 very promising years at La Masia, regularly scoring important goals for the junior Barcelona sides. He played for a season for Barcelona B before being promoted to the senior team in 2007.
He had a decent first season, scoring 4 goals in 28 matches, but was mostly brought on as a substitute in the second half. He scored a hat-trick in his last match for Barcelona against Real Murcia, and departed the following season for Tottenham Hotspur in search of more playing time.
#7 Alvaro Negredo
Negredo was signed by La Fabrica at 20 from Rayo Vallecano. He developed as a striker in his second season there, scoring 18 goals in a season in the Segunda Division. Negredo impressed Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello, but was an unused substitute in Copa Del Rey matches.
He made his Real Madrid debut in a friendly against local rivals Atletico Madrid, and having had a taste of the Madrid derby, was sold to league newcomers Almeria. He returned to Real 2 years later, but on being given an honest estimate of his chances there by new coach Manuel Pellegrini, decided to move to Sevilla.
#8 Pepe Reina
The son of famed Barcelona goalkeeper Miguel Reina, the younger Reina started his career at the Barcelona youth academy at 15 years of age. In 2000, at the age of 18, he was called up to the Barcelona first-team after the first and second choice goalkeepers, Richard Dutruel and Fransesc Arnau, suffered injuries.
Reina made 16 appearances for the club during the 2001-02 season, serving as an understudy to Roberto Bonano. However, after signing the German goalkeeper Robert Enke, Barcelona told Reina he was free to leave the club. Reina moved to Villareal and enjoyed three years of first-team football there
#9 Javi Garcia
Garcia spent 8 years in the Real Madrid youth academy, before playing a major role for Real Madrid B for 3 years. However, the year 2007, which was supposed to be his breakthrough year saw him hardly play for the first team, following which he left the club for Osasuna.
Interestingly, Garcia’s elder brother Luis, graduated from the Barcelona academy before going on to play for them.
#10 Luis Garcia
Luis Garcia, a product of La Masia, had 2 successful seasons with the Barcelona B team in the late 90s before being loaned out to other Segunda Division clubs. He returned to play for the Barcelona senior team in 2003 making 25 appearances and scoring 4 goals in a campaign where the Blaugrana finished second in the league.
Rafa Benitez, who had coached the player during a loan spell at Tenerife, then went on to sign Garcia for Liverpool.
#11 Daniel Parejo
Parejo joined the Real Madrid youth academy at the age of 14, and was frequently called up to train with the senior team. After playing for two years for the Real Madrid B team, he was loaned out to QPR, but recalled later in the season after injuries to Ruben, Diarra and Nistelrooy. He made only 5 appearances before being sold to Getafe in 2009, where he would enjoy 2 years of first-team football.
