Jesus Vallejo (foto: uradna spletna stran kluba)
Real Madrid have officially said goodbye to Jesús Vallejo, the central defender who has been under contract with the club since 2015 but made just 34 appearances in 10 years.
Vallejo was signed from Zaragoza as a highly-rated 18-year-old but never managed to break into the first team. Instead, his decade-long stay became one of the quietest careers ever seen at the Bernabéu, with most of his time spent either on loan or on the fringes.
He was sent on loan to Zaragoza, Eintracht Frankfurt, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Granada. Despite limited impact, Real Madrid chose to extend his contract in 2020 until 2025—a move that baffled fans and analysts alike.
Even this past season, with Real Madrid suffering defensive injury crises, Vallejo played only four times, all at the very end of the campaign after the title race had already slipped away.
"We thank Jesús for his professionalism, dedication and hard work. We wish him and his family the best of luck in their new chapters in life," the club wrote in a farewell statement.
While Vallejo departs without much fanfare, his story stands as one of the rare cases of a footballer spending a full decade at the world’s biggest club—without ever truly arriving.