The midfielder came to Villarreal CF from an affiliated club and 31 players from the Yellow Academy are following in his footsteps
The clubs that are affiliated to Villarreal CF are part of the success and good work of the Yellows Academy. Proof of this is the breakthrough of Manu Morlanes with the first team after his return from a loan spell. The midfielder from Aragon arrived at Miralcamp from CD Oliver, the Zaragoza club affiliated with the Yellow Submarine. In the current campaign, 31 players are following in his footsteps.
The most prominent figure amongst the 14 clubs linked to Villarreal is the Argentinian Tiago Geralnik, who is playing an important role for Villarreal B in LaLiga SmartBank. He is a player capable of adapting perfectly to any position in the midfield and has returned to his best form in Vila-real after arriving from ADIUR Rosario, the only foreign club of the Villarreal Academy project with this type of agreement. The talented player is followed by Daniel Mas, from the U19s, who comes from Mislata UF.
El Primer Toque, a benchmark at Miralcamp
El Primer Toque, an academy which is well recognised in the province, is the club that has contributed the most players to the Yellow Academy thanks to the agreement with the affiliated clubs. A dozen of former Orange players continue their formation at Miralcamp. Iker Adelantado, from U17s, is the oldest player at Miralcamp who has played for the Castellón club. In his team, there are two more players who have come from the affiliated clubs: Marcos Gonzalez, from Elda Union, and David Pastor, from Lacross Babel.
In the orange club, the U-16s player Mauro Roca and the U-14s players Héctor Cañada, Aleix Ferrer and Manu Gozalbo also stand out. In the 8-a-side football teams, Rubén Sánchez, Mario Romero, Pablo Verchili, Pablo Forés and Luca González have arrived.
Morlanes’ home, a pool of talent
CD Oliver, where Manu Morlanes first began to kick a football, continues to be a tireless factory of producing talented players, some of whom arrive in Vila-real to keep their development in the youth system. The U-16s is the team that has benefited the most from the Aragonese academy with a total of three players in their squad: Manu Rodríguez, Javi Badía and Nico Pérez. In addition, Marco Ramos plays for the U-14s.
Benicarló, home of football in Baix Maestrat
Benicarló and football go hand in hand. Thanks to the agreement between the clubs, three young footballers from Benicarló come to the Training Ground several times a week to wear the yellow jersey. Two U14s players, Óscar Albiol and Adrián Herrera; and an U12s player, Erik Nayen; are the promising young players coming from Benicarló.
The 14 clubs affiliated to Villarreal CF are CD Roda, Primer Toque, Benicarló BF, UD Vall de Uxó, CE Vila d’Onda, CD La Floresta, CD Oliver, Lacross Babel, ADIUR, Mislata UF, Elda Unión, Benicarló BF, EF Gavà, UCD La Cañada Atlético and CD Ontinyent EB.