Alvaro Carreras has been a revelation at Real Madrid. After pocketing Lamine Yamal in El Clasico, the left-back blasted home his first Madrid goal against Valencia on Saturday evening. Why on earth did Manchester United allow him to leave Old Trafford?
As he makes his return to the North West of England for Real Madrid’s Champions League game against Liverpool on Tuesday night, it is Carreras rather than Trent Alexander-Arnold who looks the pick of the club’s new signings under Xabi Alonso.
Having blossomed at Benfica, the 22-year-old already appears a bargain buy – even at the £43m fee that Madrid paid for him. It all seems a little strange when United were muddling through with Sergio Reguilon and Sofyan Amrabat at left-back not long ago.
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Alvaro Carreras scored his first Real Madrid goal with a screamer against Valencia
Instead, Carreras’ only first-team football in England came on loan at Preston North End, where there is similar disbelief. “I just cannot believe that United did not take him back after he had a buyback obligation from Benfica,” Paul Gallagher tells Sky Sports.
Gallagher was first-team coach at Preston throughout the 2022/23 Championship season for which Carreras was named as the club’s young player of the year, having been United’s reserve-team player of the year in the preceding season. He developed at Deepdale.
Alvaro Carreras in action for Preston North End against West Brom in 2022
“Straight away, you could see real quality in his game,” recalls Gallagher. “We played him as a left wing back, but you could see he was very comfortable on the ball. He got people off their seats from left wing-back with his dribbling skills and his passing skills.”
He adds: “Technically, he is very good. But he has got an unbelievable mentality as well in that he wants to learn. First and foremost, he is a really good kid with a nice personality, very respectful. That stood out because he had to learn quickly at Preston.
“In the Championship, it is tough. You have to be robust, you have to win your duels. That is something that he showed because when the going got tough, to be fair to him, as well as all the quality, he would roll his sleeves up and have a real good go too.”
Preston boss Ryan Lowe had to manage his minutes, benching him for both games against Millwall, for example, letting him acclimatise. “Sometimes you need to do that with young players, take them in and out. It was his first loan too,” explains Gallagher.
“That might have been the moment that the penny dropped for him but he was never afraid to get stuck in. He got a few kicks that season but he just got on with it and the Preston fans loved him for it. He was going into tackles and coming out with the ball.”
Carreras is now taking that approach into the Champions League. Against Juventus recently, he won all 11 of his duels in a 1-0 win at the Bernabeu, becoming the first defender to win that many duels without losing one in the competition in over a decade.
Gallagher wanted to take Carreras on loan to Stoke the following season but the player had lined up a move to LaLiga with Granada before being permitted to depart United permanently for Benfica in January of last year. Madrid came calling in the summer.
It was the chance for Carreras to return to the Spanish giants, having been part of the academy in Madrid prior to signing a four-year deal with United at the age of 17. Gallagher was among the first to text his former player congratulating him on the move.
“One thing with Alvaro and his personality, he will really believe in his ability. He will probably have thought he was good enough to play for Manchester United long ago and he was brave enough to go and prove it. Now he has his dream move to Real Madrid.
“It is not a surprise to me that he is doing so well now. What I always say about the best young players is that you only have to tell them once and that was true of Alvaro. When it sticks with a young player first time then you just know that they are going to the top.
“His attitude was fantastic. He wanted to learn, do the extras after training and to develop. He wants to be play at the highest level and he will soon be playing for the Spain national team, going to World Cups and stuff like that, because he is that good.”
Indeed, he has already shown himself to be an asset for Madrid in both defence and attack this season. His eye-catching display when given the daunting task of marking Yamal against Barcelona quashed any lingering doubts about his defensive acumen.
“Alvaro would have relished that too,” says Gallagher. “He would have gone into that game thinking about coming out the other end of it believing that he is the best full-back in the world.” Next time out against Valencia, he won a penalty and smashed in a stunning goal.
“He has good quality to create in the final third. He is a modern-day full-back but he has also got that thing where he will work so hard to get back and help the team. Preston fans loved that about him but all coaches and fans take to someone like that.
“He plays with that personality, energy and belief in himself. It is not overconfidence but just belief in his own ability. It is why he is at one of the best clubs in the world.” A triumph for the exceptional Alvaro Carreras, somehow overlooked at Manchester United.
