Ever since the early days of
football in Spain, one issue for
cantera clubs is the poaching or recruiting of their players by other clubs. After the cantera has trained a player, another club will step in with a tempting offer and take them away. The potential of the Basque Country as a recruiting ground for players was recognised by the likes of Barcelona,
Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid early on. Barça, in particular, has a long history of signing players from the region, dating back to the acquisition of
Félix Sesúmaga. Others have included
Jesús Garay,
Chus Pereda,
José Ramón Alexanko,
Javier Urruticoechea and, in more recent times,
Santiago Ezquerro. During the 1980s and 1990s, Barcelona poached a number of top Basque players, among them José Mari Bakero,
Txiki Begiristain,
Andoni Zubizarreta,
Julio Salinas and
Ion Andoni Goikoetxea, enabling manager
Johan Cruyff to build the legendary "Dream Team" around them. The successful Atlético Madrid teams of the 1960s also included a notable Basque presence in the form of
Miguel Jones and
José Eulogio Gárate, both recruited from
Indautxu, and
Javier Irureta, signed from Real Unión. Real Madrid has also regularly looked north for players such as
Rafael Alkorta,
Mikel Lasa,
Aitor Karanka and
Iván Campo. Athletic Bilbao, however, have also been regularly accused of poaching. The Athletic policy of recruiting only Basque-players has seen them frequently recruit from the canteras of
other Basque clubs. In 1995, Athletic signed
Joseba Etxeberria from Real Sociedad, causing considerable ill feeling between the two clubs. By the 1990s, the poaching of players took on a new dimension. Real Madrid in particular have regularly produced quality players unable to establish themselves with their home club. Some critics have argued that this has partly arisen because these clubs continue to use "imports" at the expense of cantera players. As a result, many graduates of the canteras seek their fortune elsewhere and are willing to be poached. Initially, cantera players only moved to other Spanish clubs, but in more recent times, English
Premier League clubs have begun recognizing the potential of the canteras. In 2003,
Arsenal persuaded Cesc Fàbregas to leave Barcelona B with a much higher salary that Barcelona could not offer due to Spanish contractual law. More recently, teenage star
Fran Mérida followed Fàbregas' footsteps and played some time for Arsenal's reserve team before returning to La Liga in 2010 with Atlético Madrid. Another emerging Barça B player, Gerard Piqué, subsequently signed for
Manchester United, though he has since moved back to Barcelona. Since then, Rafael Benítez, himself a product of the
cantera, has recruited Luis García Sanz, Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso and
Fernando Torres for
Liverpool, while Mikel Arteta established himself at
Everton. Luis García Sanz, Reina and Arteta all began their career at Barça; Alonso started out at Real Sociedad; and Torres developed in the Atlético system. ==Other canteras==