Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he is happy to give the club's academy players a chance to shine, after his son Enzo made his Blancos first team debut in Wednesday's 3-1 friendly defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Columbus, Ohio.
Madrid are preparing for the 2016-17 season on the other side of the Atlantic, with their senior players arriving back from their holidays on a staggered basis, following the summer's Copa America Centenario and Euro 2016 tournaments.
Eleven different youth-team players have been taken on the tour, including head coach Zidane's sons Enzo, a 21-year-old midfielder who featured regularly for Castilla last season, and 18-year-old Luca, one of five goalkeepers to have made the trip.
Madrid started a relatively strong side in Wednesday's first friendly of the preseason, and by half-time were already 3-1 behind after a slow start. Zidane made many changes after the break, with first-team debuts for Enzo Zidane, who replaced winger Lucas Vazquez, defender Achraf Hakimi, midfielder Aleix Febas and forward Mariano.
Other youngsters to feature for Madrid in the game included Norwegian teenager Martin Odegaard, midfield prospect Marcos Llorente, Austrian defender Philipp Lienhart, and Spain under-21 playmaker Marco Asensio, who has returned to the club following a successful 2015-16 season on loan at Espanyol.
Speaking after the game, coach Zidane told a news conference that he had a lot of faith in his club's emerging talent, but he would not be rushing youngsters into regular first team action too quickly.
"Whenever we need to, we'll take players from the academy," Zidane said. "They're here with us, are focused and are good players. When they get their chance they'll take it. We've got a fine squad and the first thing is to get the players ready. The academy products are good players, but they're still young. That's why you've got to take things slowly and be sensible with them, even in the case where they're already part of the first-team squad."
When coaching Madrid's Castilla youth side last season, Zidane made Enzo team captain, and then Blancos boss Rafa Benitez called the youngster up to train with the first team on occasion. He played 38 times for Castilla over 2015-16, scoring twice, as the team missed out on promotion from Spain's third tier.
Goalkeeper Luca Zidane Fernandez was first choice for Madrid in the UEFA Youth League last season, where he impressed early in the competition, but was criticised for a mistake as his team were eliminated at the semifinal stage by PSG.
All four of Zidane's sons are on the books at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, and were among the youth players highlighted when FIFA banned Madrid from registering new players for two transfer windows in January. That ban is currently suspended pending an appeal.