Alvaro Carreras.Born in Ferrol, Spain (March 23, 2003), Carreras joined Real Madrid’s youth system in 2017 after youth stints at Deportivo La Coruña and Racing de Ferrol.
Summary Table:
Age & Position:22-year-old Spanish left-back
Transfer Fee:€50 million
Contract:Signed a six-year deal through June 2031
Previous Clubs:Real Madrid youth → Man Utd → Loans at Preston & Granada → Benfica
Market Fit:Covers left-back depth, reliable, homegrown, and versatile
Strategic Role:Needed due to injuries/uncertainty at LB for Madrid
Álvaro Carreras marks a clear strategic bolstering of Real Madrid’s defensive core. A return to the Bernabéu at just 22 years old, he brings flair, familiarity, and long-term promise in a position that desperately needed reinforcement. With injury doubts over other left-backs, Carreras presents a balanced mix of continuity and growth potential for Xabi Alonso’s side.
How Carreras fits into Real Madrid
🛡️ Defensive role
●Madrid under Xabi Alonso use a fluid back four, with the left-back sometimes tucking inside into a back three during build-up (to allow right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold to push forward).
●Carreras fits perfectly: he’s comfortable inverting into midfield, has solid defensive positioning, and isn’t purely a wing-back style player.
●He’s known for 1v1 defending and recovering runs, qualities Madrid lacked last season when Ferland Mendy struggled with injuries.
🔝 Offensive contribution
●At Benfica, Carreras averaged around 1.4 key passes per game and regularly made progressive carries into the final third.
●Madrid often face deep blocks; Carreras adds:
Overlapping runs to stretch defenses.
●Accurate early crosses (especially effective for attackers like Rodrygo or Endrick).
●Short passing combinations with midfielders like Bellingham or Camavinga.
📊 Tactical flexibility
Can play:
●Traditional LB in a back four.
●Wing-back in a 3–4–3.
●Inverted LB stepping into midfield (as Zinchenko does for Arsenal).
●His youth in Madrid’s academy means he already understands positional play typical of Spanish giants, easing adaptation.
🧪 Strategic reasoning behind his signing
●Madrid wanted reliability: injuries forced them to rotate LB too much last year.
●Carreras has big club experience (Benfica, Manchester United youth) yet is only 22.
●Signing a Spanish player supports La Liga squad quotas and future homegrown requirements.
✅ Quick summary:
●Young but mature.
●Balanced: reliable in defense, comfortable joining attack.
●Knows Madrid’s style (former academy).
●Complements Alexander-Arnold on the opposite flank.
