Stepping up from Castilla to the Real Madrid first team and winning the LaLiga Santander title in your debut season isn’t easy, but that could become a reality for Marvin Park, Miguel Gutierrez, Victor Chust, Sergio Arribas, Antonio Blanco and Hugo Duro.
They are the six young players who Zinedine Zidane has called upon, and all six have performed admirably when required.
Jose Antonio Camacho brought Luis Molowny into the first team in March 1974, but the 18-year-old joined a team that finished eighth and didn’t win the league for the first of nine times until the following year.
Isidoro San Jose had similar in 1976, finishing ninth, but a year later winning the first of eight league titles.
Chendo made his debut against Castellon in 1982, but he had to wait until 1986 to win his first of seven titles.
Michel Gonzalez won his first title that same season, but he made his debut in 1984.
The 1985/86 campaign was crucial as it was when La Quinta del Buitre, the nickname given to that young core of homegrown talent, stepped up.
Martin Vazquez and Manolo Sanchis made their debuts in 1983, while Emilio Butragueno made his in 1984, so it was not the debut season for any of them.
One rare exception was Raul Gonzalez, who was champion in his debut season in 1994/95, scoring nine goals at the age of 17.
Guti and Iker Casillas both made their debuts soon after, in 1995 and 1999 respectively, but had to wait, finishing sixth and ninth in their debut seasons, although the goalkeeper did win the Champions League in his first season in the first team.
