There are not many Real Madrid academy players who have established themselves in the first team at 18. Almost none. Let's look at history: Raúl debuted at 17, while Martín Vázquez, Casillas, Morata, Alfonso, Sanchís, Camacho, or Álvaro Benito did so already as adults. The same age that Thiago Pitarch is now, who will turn 19 in August. Before that, he will accumulate in his personal record three key matches in the white team's season. 55 minutes against Getafe, 90 against Celta, and a match against Manchester City of Guardiola where he appears as the necessary wildcard in Arbeloa's midfield.
Pitarch's explosion in Valdebebas stems from that connection between the coach and the player. "He is the person who has bet the most on him," say those who know the young man from Fuenlabrada best. In 12 months, Arbeloa has turned the midfielder's career upside down. "A unique player," as he is described in the corridors of the sports city.
In Valdebebas, Pitarch has played two unofficial matches that have been the central axis of his breakthrough in the academy. Two matches where the result was not the most important thing but where he convinced the right people. The first took place in January 2025 and was a training match between Real Madrid's Juvenil A and Juvenil B. The first team was led by Arbeloa. The second, the dressing room to which Pitarch belonged.
The 17-year-old's performance caught the coach's attention, who from that moment on promoted him to the first youth team, from where he did not come back down. Changes in the Real Madrid and Castilla benches also helped him. Xabi Alonso arrived in the first team, and Arbeloa was promoted to the reserve team, and in those conversations between the two coaches, also friends, one of the first names that came up when talking about the academy was Thiago's.
The midfielder was not part of the Club World Cup, where Xabi took Chema and Mario Martín, more experienced midfielders who are now at Stuttgart and Getafe. But Madrid renewed his contract that summer, and when the group returned to Valdebebas and the youngest players had been loaned out, Pitarch began to have the opportunity to join some training sessions. There, another friendly match as a boost.
On August 8 last year, Alonso's Madrid faced Leganés in Valdebebas. There were no cameras, but many eyes in the stands. Alonso opted for a starting eleven of first-team players, but in the second half, he gave Thiago the opportunity, who scored the team's fourth goal. From then on, his name kept resonating in the sports city.
Although he did not play, he was called up for the first three LaLiga matches and then settled in Arbeloa's Castilla until Spain's call-up for the U-20 World Cup took him away from Madrid's daily routine. In Chile, he went from being a substitute to becoming a key player alongside Rodrigo Mendoza, then at Elche, now at Atlético and a year older than him.
Upon his return from the youth World Cup, he continued to move between Castilla, first-team training sessions, Alonso's call-ups, and a stint in the youth Champions League, where he has so far played only one match. In fact, if he plays against City, he will not be able to be called up for the youth team in the Youth League, where Madrid is in the quarter-finals.
That detail does not seem to matter much in Valdebebas because in the first-team environment, Pitarch is already treated as one of the 'seniors'. "He is very dynamic, he is good for us," details Arbeloa. "He's almost a child, but on the field, he bites," they admit in the sports city corridors. In the background, Morocco is pushing to convince him because his grandfather is from Alhucemas, but both he and his family are clear that his future lies with the Spanish Federation, which will call him up to be part of the U-21 team. But first, City.