Real Madrid Receive €12 Million After Former Player Makes Bournemouth Move Official

Madrid, Spain — Real Madrid’s talent factory has once again paid dividends off the pitch, with the club banking approximately €12 million after former academy product Álex Jiménez completed a permanent transfer from AC Milan to Premier League side Bournemouth. The 20-year-old Spaniard’s switch, which became official ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, triggered a sell-on clause that sees Los Blancos collect half of the €25 million fee Milan will receive from the Cherries.

Jiménez’s journey through the Madrid system followed a path increasingly familiar to the club’s recruiters: early promotion to the first-team environment, a calculated sale with retained upside, and eventual financial reward. After spending time on loan within the club structure, the full-back was transferred to Milan in 2024. Real Madrid negotiated a 50 percent ownership stake in his economic rights, ensuring they would benefit from any future resale. Bournemouth’s obligation-to-buy clause, activated this summer, converts a previous loan into a five-and-a-half-year contract and pours nearly €30 million into Milan’s coffers—€12 million of which is rerouted directly to the Bernabéu treasury.

The windfall arrives at an opportune moment for Madrid, who are expected to be active in the upcoming transfer window. Club officials have long viewed sell-on and buy-back clauses as strategic tools, balancing the need to give young talents competitive minutes elsewhere while preserving either a financial or sporting pathway back to the Spanish capital. Jiménez’s exit fits that template perfectly: Madrid retained leverage over his next career step without hindering his development, and their faith has been rewarded monetarily less than 18 months after the initial sale.

Whispers of a possible repatriation of Jiménez circulated last season, fueled by Madrid’s buy-back option that would have valued him at 50 percent of any prevailing market price. Ultimately, the Premier League’s pull—and Bournemouth’s willingness to meet Milan’s valuation—convinced all parties that a fresh chapter outside La Liga was the optimal route for the defender. Madrid, for their part, appear content to reinvest the cash rather than trigger their discounted purchase option.

The same contractual architecture is already in place for other graduates. Como midfielder Nico Paz, 21, has reportedly attracted Madrid’s attention after two standout Serie A seasons; the club recently blocked a €30 million bid from Tottenham Hotspur, a decision interpreted internally as a precursor to exercising their own buy-back clause. Similar 50 percent sell-on arrangements were inserted into the deals that took Jacobo Ramón to Como and Chema Andrés to Stuttgart this summer, teeing up potential repeat scenarios in the years ahead.

By converting academy output into tangible transfer revenue, Real Madrid continue to underwrite spending on marquee targets without compromising their self-sustaining model. The €12 million injection courtesy of Jiménez’s Bournemouth move may represent a single line on a sprawling balance sheet, but it underscores a deliberate philosophy: every talent developed in Valdebebas carries a dual value—sporting for the present, financial for the future.

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