Profits in the millions: Barcelona follow in Real Madrid's footsteps

Of the 13 academy graduates Real Madrid sold for a fee, Fran Garcia aside, only Gonzalo Garcia had featured for the first team. His value: 40 million euros. 

Gonzalo Garcia joined Fulham, coached by Alvaro Arbeloa. It's the same club that signed Cesar Palacios for 10 million euros and Manuel Angel Moran for 4 million.

Jacobo Ortega (10 million euros), Victor Valdepenas (8 million) and Fran Gonzalez (3 million) make up the other three. All three were playing in Real Madrid's age categories last season before leaving the Whites this summer.

The Whites negotiated to keep a grip on all these players' futures over the medium term, just as they had in the other cases. Either the player returns to the Bernabeu through a buy-back clause, or he generates future revenue for the club should he move on from his new side.

That second route has already delivered Madrid's biggest profits this summer. Victor Munoz (20.5 million euros), Mario Gila (15 million), Alex Jimenez (12.5 million), Alvaro Rodriguez (12.5 million), Chema Andres (11.5 million) and Mario Martin (3 million) no longer belong to the Whites, yet they've swelled the coffers after the clubs holding 50% of their federative rights sold them on. Some never played a single minute for Real Madrid's first team.

Nico Paz, valued at 60 million euros, deserves a separate mention. Real Madrid sold half his rights to Como last year, then offloaded the remaining 50% this summer in a complex deal, while securing an option to buy him back for 80 million euros.

The Argentine international wanted to stay under Cesc Fabregas. That desire pushed through Real Madrid's most profitable deal of the summer.

Barcelona, for their part, banked 44.5 million euros from the sale of eight academy graduates. That figure excludes the small, almost symbolic fees they received for the training rights of players such as Cucurella and Nico Gonzalez, and it also leaves out the 11 million euros Monaco paid for Ansu Fati, given that the forward had already been among the global elite for more than five years.

Marc Casado and Alejandro Balde could have swelled the club's takings. The former ultimately left on loan, while the full-back stays with the squad.

Like Real Madrid, the Catalans opted this summer to sell 50% of the rights of some academy graduates while keeping a priority option to buy them back.

Tommy Marques went for 11 million euros, Hector Fort for 8.5 million, Jofre Torrents for 6 million, Guiu Fernandez for 4 million, Toni Fernandez for 4 million, and Alvaro Cortes for 3.4 million, all leaving Barcelona this summer under that arrangement.

It is the same deal the club struck with Jan Virgili for 4.5 million euros a year ago, which has now delivered fresh revenue following the player's move from Real Mallorca to Club Brugge.

Inaki Pena is the final case, for 3 million euros. His situation is different: at 27, he has severed ties with Barcelona for good, with the club holding no priority option on his rights.

All told, Barcelona's total comes to around 44.5 million euros. That is close to what they earned from selling Ferran Torres, and more than double the fee they paid to sign Karim Adeyemi.