Real Madrid Academy Star Jacobo Ortega Joins Strasbourg
Real Madrid’s latest academy export has landed in France, and his move has set off a chain reaction stretching from Strasbourg to Suffolk.
Ortega in, Enciso out
On Monday, Real Madrid sent 20-year-old center forward Jacobo Ortega to Strasbourg in a deal reported at around €10 million ($11.6m). The Spanish youth striker, who scored in last season’s UEFA Youth League final against Club Brugge in Lausanne, has signed a five-year contract with the French club.
He arrives as a direct response to a major departure. Strasbourg have lost Paraguay forward Julio Enciso to newly-promoted Ipswich Town, the club where he previously spent time on loan two seasons ago during their last Premier League campaign.
Enciso’s profile has soared over the past year. He started all five of Paraguay’s World Cup games, scoring against Germany in the round of 32 and featuring in both a 4-1 opening defeat to the United States and a fiery 1-0 loss to France in the round of 16. That exposure has now translated into a permanent move to England.
Ipswich raid Strasbourg – and pay big
Ipswich did not stop at Enciso. The club also announced the signing of Strasbourg’s 20-year-old midfielder Abdoul Ouattara. Both players have agreed five-year contracts and will work again under Gary O’Neil, who coached Strasbourg for the second half of last season and now finds himself reunited with two of his former key men.
The combined fee for Enciso and Ouattara is reportedly around €50m ($58m). For Strasbourg, that single double deal has recouped more than five times what they are paying for Ortega.
Strasbourg walk UEFA’s financial tightrope
Those numbers matter. Strasbourg, owned by Chelsea’s holding company BlueCo, are operating under a harsh spotlight from UEFA. In June, European football’s governing body fined the club €13m ($15m) for overspending — the largest financial penalty handed out to any club last season.
UEFA has advised Strasbourg to “significantly decrease” player costs by 2026. The response has been ruthless and clear. After a flurry of sales, their offseason transfer business now shows a profit of about €80m ($92m).
Two of the most notable exits have gone straight to their parent club. Chelsea have taken Strasbourg captain Emmanuel Emegha and Argentina midfielder Valentín Barco, underlining how closely the two teams are now intertwined under the BlueCo structure.
Against that backdrop, Ortega’s arrival looks like a calculated investment: a relatively modest fee for a 20-year-old forward with pedigree in youth European competition, and no first-team minutes yet at Real Madrid. Madrid, for their part, did not disclose official terms of the transfer.
Reyna joins the rebuild
Strasbourg have not only been selling. The French side also moved to sign United States midfielder Giovanni Reyna from Borussia Mönchengladbach this month, adding another young, high-ceiling player to a squad being aggressively reshaped under financial pressure.
So Strasbourg head into the new season with money in the bank, a leaner wage bill, and a very different dressing room. Enciso and Ouattara chase Premier League ambitions at Ipswich. Ortega arrives in Alsace with a Youth League medal, a five-year deal, and a clear task: help prove that Strasbourg can balance UEFA’s books without losing their edge on the pitch.
