Manuel Ángel and David Jiménez keep training seriously inside "La Fábrica", though both know their future now lies away from Real Madrid. They are waiting for the right offer, with plenty of interest from clubs in Spain's first and second divisions and across other European leagues.
Revenues from academy sales have already hit a record 199 million euros, and the pair are next in line to leave after Jacobo Ortega. That is why the club have left them out of Castilla's friendly and official matches, a precaution to avoid any injury that could scupper a decisive move, according to Spanish newspaper "AS".
Manuel Ángel: the mastermind
Manuel Ángel came close to leaving last summer. Several clubs chased him, Levante most insistently, while Aston Villa also tried to sign him, yet he chose to stay for one more season.
He wore the captain's armband last season under Álvaro Arbeloa, then López de Lerma, and finished the campaign spending more time with the first team. Seven matches and 129 minutes were enough for him to prove his level belongs at a higher standard.
Now 22 and standing 170 centimetres tall, Manuel joined Real Madrid's academy in 2014 and ranks among the most prominent talents of the famous treble generation led by Arbeloa, a group that included Nico Paz, Gonzalo, Palacios and Jacobo Ramón. Arbeloa described him as "a player who completely changes the course of a match".
Small in stature, he still dominates midfield through his intelligence and his ability to use both feet with equal efficiency. He takes free kicks with his right and his left, so much so that people inside the club joke: "Even he himself does not know whether he is right-footed or left-footed!".
Twelve years on at Valdebebas, the interest around him is expected to harden into official offers so he can start a new chapter in his career.
David Jiménez: Arbeloa's right-hand man
From the mind to the glove comes David Jiménez, Manuel Ángel's teammate in the same treble generation, a full-back who came close to 20 assists in that exceptional season.
Many at Valdebebas call him Arbeloa's right-hand man on the pitch and reckon he has "the best right foot in the academy". He is an attacking full-back par excellence, a menace in the opponent's half, the main man on set pieces, and he keeps the ball with a midfielder's composure.
"He surges forward with all his might, he has the personality of a leader and the touch of Carvajal", is how they sum him up inside the academy. His strong personality mirrors Arbeloa's own, the man who was his childhood idol and later one of his biggest backers.
Born in 2004 and an academy player since 2013, the 1.70-metre Jiménez played his last 153 minutes with the first team last season, 91 of them under Xabi Alonso, and left a distinctive mark on the coaches. He has enough experience to launch himself beyond the Real Madrid bubble, waiting only for the spark to fire up his new career. Everyone is confident it is coming.
A summer surpassing 200 million euros
Once Manuel Ángel and David Jiménez leave, Real Madrid's academy sale revenues will smash through the 200 million euros barrier. The 10 million euros landing in the club's coffers from the Jacobo Ortega deal pushes the total past 199 million.
Some at Valdebebas saw this coming when they spoke of a "historic summer". It is now happening, with the club also keeping a slice of the future sale rights of many players.
The players sold so far include: Nico Paz (60 million euros), Gonzalo (40 million euros), Víctor Muñoz (20.5 million euros), Gila (15 million euros), Álvaro Rodríguez (12.5 million euros), Álex Jiménez (12.5 million euros), Palacios (10 million euros), Jacobo Ortega (10 million euros), Fran García (4 million euros), Mario Martín (3 million euros) and Fran González (3 million euros), with strong interest in others such as Sisteró, Yáñez and Juan Martínez.