Both boys are goalkeepers, following their father’s position. After two seasons in Real Madrid’s youth system, they have joined Leganés, where they will continue their training.
The immediate trigger, according to reports in the Spanish press carried by Goal, was Martín’s drop in status within his age group at La Fábrica. Neither brother was selected for the Futures tournament in Orlando, and the family concluded the project at Real Madrid was no longer the right one for them.
Before joining Real Madrid, the two boys had played at Pozuelo. Their mother is the journalist Sara Carbonero.
Casillas backed Riquelme in June’s election
The move is being described in Spain as strictly sporting, but it lands against the backdrop of Casillas’s open break with Real Madrid’s leadership. In the run-up to the club’s first contested presidential election in 20 years, he publicly supported Enrique Riquelme, the 37-year-old renewable-energy entrepreneur who ran against Florentino Pérez.
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Riquelme lost. On 7 June, Pérez took 65% of the vote against Riquelme’s 35%, returning for another four-year term. Casillas’s backing of the challenger left him on the opposite side of the board that oversees the academy his sons attended.
Mourinho is back at Valdebebas
The timing sharpens another old wound. In the summer the club brought back José Mourinho as head coach on a three-year deal, returning the manager whose first spell between 2010 and 2013 ended in a very public falling-out with his own captain: Casillas.
Neither Casillas nor Real Madrid has issued a statement about the academy decision.
Casillas is one of the most decorated players in the club’s history. In 725 official appearances for Real Madrid he won three Champions League titles, in 1999-00, 2001-02 and 2013-14, and five LaLiga titles. With Spain he lifted the 2010 World Cup as captain and the European Championship in 2008 and 2012.
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Martín and Lucas will now pursue their goalkeeping careers in the south of Madrid.
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