Chema Andres left Real Madrid last summer for VfB Stuttgart, and by his own account, it was exactly the right call. But if Madrid ever comes calling again, he won't be hanging up the phone.
"I would be delighted to return to Madrid, but it's not something that worries me right now," the young Spaniard said in a recent interview. "I'm very happy in Stuttgart. I've told my agent that I don't want to know anything about that."
That's a grounded answer from a player who's actually playing football rather than daydreaming about the Bernabéu. He left La Fábrica because the path to the Real Madrid first team is essentially a wall — the best players in the world queue up for those spots, and academy graduates get squeezed out before they ever get a real look.
Why Stuttgart made sense
Andres was direct about his reasons for leaving: "The sports project fit what I wanted — to make the leap to professional soccer and have the opportunity to gain experience and minutes of play." He also credited Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness specifically, saying the manager "convinced me" and "gave me that confidence" before he'd even signed.
That kind of clarity in a young player's decision-making is encouraging. He wasn't chasing money or a bigger name — he was chasing game time. Stuttgart gave him that, and the numbers back it up.
He was also warm about former Madrid B coach Álvaro Arbeloa, calling him "the best communicator I've ever had" — someone who told him hard truths when he needed them. Arbeloa's arrival at Real Madrid Castilla has since opened more doors for youth players, which is part of why Andres keeps one eye on the club even while settled in Germany.
The Stiller question in the background
Andres also touched on the reported Real Madrid interest in his Stuttgart teammate Angelo Stiller, turning it into something refreshingly human: "We joked a little — 'Are you going there? Do I go and you go?'" His assessment of Stiller was unambiguous: "He is our best player, he is spectacular... a top-class player who could play for any team."
If Stiller does eventually move to Madrid, and Andres continues developing at this rate, the joke might end up with both of them in white. For now though, Stuttgart are getting the better end of this arrangement — a motivated, settled La Fábrica graduate who wanted to be there from the start.
"When the time comes, we'll talk and see what options we have." For a 20-something still finding his feet in the Bundesliga, that's exactly the right attitude.
