In recent times, making the step up to the first team has proven difficult for Real Madrid's youth players, who have been forced to try their luck elsewhere.

This policy has seen the club pocket almost €100 million over the last decade, although the club has also found itself buying back players who were excelling away from the Bernabéu on numerous occasions.

A number of academy graduates who have slipped through the club's fingers have also gone on to succeed with other teams.

Negredo, who spent two years in the colours of Castilla, Real's B-side, has the honour of being the youth team player to have commanded the highest transfer fee over the last decade, despite never making his debut for the first team. Sevilla forked out €15 million to snap up the striker in 2009.

Another top player to have exited the Bernabéu is Juan Mata, the European and world champion, who left the Whites on a free without making his first-team bow and is now a key member of the Chelsea and Spain squads. Other high-profile examples include Soldado and Rodrigo (both were sold for €6 million), and current Atlético de Madrid player Juanfran, who was also part of Spain's recent Euro 2012-winning campaign.

Samuel Eto'o is a special case. The Cameroon-born striker arrived at Real Madrid in 1996, spending two years flittering between the youth side and the first team, where he enjoyed limited playing time. Later, when Barcelona secured the signing of the then Mallorca goalscorer in 2004, Real Madrid received half of the fee: some €12 million.