Real Madrid do not usually keep a financial stake in players they have stopped believing in. With Youssef Enriquez, the left-back almost everyone now calls Yusi, they kept half of his economic rights and a buy-back clause. That single detail says more about how he is rated than any highlight clip. He turns 21 on 7 October, more than a year into his first real top-flight job at Alaves, and the open question is a good one: is Vitoria a stepping stone back to the Bernabeu, or the place where he builds a career on his own terms?
Yusi on One Page
| Full name | Youssef Enriquez Lekhedim |
|---|---|
| Known as | Yusi |
| Born | 7 October 2005, Madrid, Spain |
| Age | 20 (turns 21 on 7 October 2026) |
| Nationality | Spanish and Moroccan, represents Morocco |
| Height and weight | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in), around 68 kg |
| Position and foot | Left-back, left-footed |
| Club and shirt | Deportivo Alaves, number 3 |
| Contract | Runs to 30 June 2029 |
| Previous club | Real Madrid academy, 2017 to 2025 |
| FC 26 rating | 70 overall, 81 potential |
| Estimated salary | Around 300,000 to 500,000 euros a year gross |
| Estimated net worth | 600,000 to 1.2 million US dollars |
| Market value | Around 4 million euros |
| Agent | MRH Football Agency |
Fourteen Times on the Bench, Never Off It
Enriquez was born in Madrid to a Spanish father and a Moroccan mother. His early football was a tour of the city's youth scene: San Fernando de Henares as a small kid, Rayo Vallecano from 2013, a year at Moratalaz, a year at Getafe. Real Madrid signed him in 2017, when he was 11.
He then stayed for eight years and climbed every rung. With the under-19s he played UEFA Youth League football and, in 2023, won both the under-19 Champions Cup and the under-19 Copa del Rey. That November the club gave him a new contract to 2028, which looked like a club protecting a player it intended to use.
The 2024/25 season at Real Madrid Castilla was the breakthrough: 35 league appearances and regular call-ups to senior squads. He travelled to the Club World Cup. He sat as an unused substitute 14 times. He never got on.
Then, in July 2025, Madrid signed Alvaro Carreras to play left-back. The route was closed. Enriquez posted a farewell on Instagram that week and was an Alaves player within hours, officially joining on 16 July 2025.
A Sale With the Door Left Open
Reported fees for the move range from 300,000 euros to 3 million, which looks like sloppy reporting until you read the structure. Real Madrid retained 50 percent of his economic rights and added a buy-back clause. The cash Alaves paid up front and the total valuation of the player are two different numbers, and the 2 to 3 million figure in Spanish coverage refers to the half share.
That is not how a club offloads surplus. It is how a club parks a player somewhere he will actually play, keeps a slice of any future sale and leaves itself a way back. Madrid have done it before with youngsters they still rate.
His market value is generally listed at around 4 million euros, with some sources closer to 4.8 million. Icon Polls puts his realistic transfer value at 4 million to 6 million euros, on the basis that a buyer now is paying for potential plus top-flight exposure. Any buyer also has to deal with Madrid's half, which complicates things.
The Money, Honestly
Icon Polls estimates his net worth at 600,000 to 1.2 million US dollars. The range is wide on purpose. No official figures exist, and almost everything he has earned arrived in the last few years.
Academy players at Madrid are paid, but not at first-team rates, and Enriquez never reached that bracket because he never played a senior minute. His first contract on proper adult terms is the four-year Alaves deal, estimated at 300,000 to 500,000 euros a year gross. That is typical for a young squad defender at a mid-table La Liga club. Exact terms are not public.
Take a couple of seasons of that, remove Spanish tax and agent fees, and you land in the high six figures at most. He wears Nike and has a modest social following, but there is no boot deal or endorsement portfolio of the kind that changes a young player's bracket. The number is small for now. It would move quickly if he locked down a starting place.
Small, Quick and Happier Going Forward
Club and league paperwork list him at 1.70 m, or 5 ft 7 in. Some databases say 175 cm, which is why his height gets searched so often, but the official 1.70 m figure is the one to trust.
That is short for a modern full-back, and his profile reflects it. Crossing is a genuine strength. His aerial duel numbers are, oddly, decent for his size. Tackling is the clear weakness. In plain terms he is an attacking wing-back who wants the ball going forward, not a defensive specialist, and Alaves have used him that way.
At Mendizorroza he has competed with Victor Parada and Jonny Otto for the left side. His match ratings have sat in the mid 6s and he has not put up big goal or assist numbers, which is about what you expect from a 20-year-old rotating in and out. The stat that matters is minutes. Regular La Liga football was the whole reason he left.
Spain First, Then Morocco
His international path confuses people, and understandably. He played for Spain at under-15, under-17 and under-18 level, then switched to Morocco's under-20s in 2023. In 2026 he is part of the Morocco under-23 setup and has been called up to the senior squad. Born in Spain to a Moroccan mother, he was always eligible for both. Morocco offered family ties and a clearer senior pathway, and he took it.
Should You Sign Him in FC 26 Career Mode?
In FC 26 he appears as Yusi at Alaves. He launched at 63 overall in September 2025, rose to 68 through the autumn and sat at 70 by mid 2026, with 81 potential. That combination is exactly what Career Mode players hunt for.
In game he is valued around 3.9 million dollars on a weekly wage of roughly 12,000, with two-star skill moves and a generic face. Pace and crossing are the useful attributes, mirroring the real player. Treat him as a two-season project rather than a plug-and-play starter and he repays the patience.
He is a long way from the conversation about the game's greats, of course. If you have opinions on who belongs at the very top, vote in our poll of the best football players of all time.
Quick Answers
Will Youssef Enriquez go back to Real Madrid?
It is possible because the buy-back clause exists, but it is unlikely soon. He would first need to become a settled first-choice starter in La Liga.
Did he ever play for Real Madrid's first team?
No. He was named in senior squads 14 times as an unused substitute and travelled to the Club World Cup, but never made a competitive appearance.
Does he have a partner?
He has not made any relationship public and keeps his personal life off social media.
