According to ESPN, Real Madrid have beaten Barcelona to the signing of Jan Vila, a 14-year-old player who will arrive from Espanyol.
Vila, born in Anglesola in Lleida, joined Espanyol's academy in 2023 from GimnĂ stic de Manresa. The winger has continued to impress this season, scoring 11 goals in 21 appearances for Espanyol's Under-14 side and helping the team win the Catalonia championship. He is also a Spain Under-14 international.
Quick and powerful with an eye for goal, Vila is capable of playing on either flank and is considered one of the most promising talents of his generation in Spanish academy football. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona had been tracking him for some time, but Real Madrid's La FĂĄbrica project ultimately won out in the race for his signature.
His departure from Espanyol continues a pattern that has become familiar at the Catalan club in recent seasons, with several of its most promising academy graduates having previously left for Spain's biggest clubs before reaching first-team level.
Vila's case follows that of fellow Espanyol academy player Pol SabadĂ, whose own situation had already reopened the debate around the club's ability to retain young talent, just a day before news of Vila's departure emerged.
Real Madrid consider early recruitment of young talent to be central to La Fåbrica's success, and the club has significantly strengthened its scouting network in Spanish academy football in recent years. Vila is not the only 14-year-old on the club's radar this summer, with Real Madrid also said to be interested in Deportivo La Coruña academy player Gabriel Seijo, another player also being tracked by Barcelona.
Also within the academy, Real Madrid are looking to bring in the son of former defender Raphaël Varane. The nine-year-old typically plays as a centre-back or central midfielder. Real Madrid are also following one of the sons of Achraf Hakimi, who is also being developed in Spanish academy football, currently at Getafe.