Real Madrid have forced out a youth coach over an open thank you letter he sent to Barcelona after leaving the club earlier in his career.

According to The Athletic, Adria Diaz has been sacked from his role as an assistant in their Juvenil C under-17 side, where he had been working with Sergio Lopez.

Diaz joined Real Madrid in July, but is set to leave just over three months later, with Real Madrid paying out his full salary in the process. The club's public version is that Diaz has decided to leave of his own volition to join Leganes' analysis team, yet internal sources 'strongly deny' this, alleging that the letter is in fact responsible.

Before joining Los Blancos, Diaz was employed by Lugo in Galicia, but had worked with Barcelona for three years between 2016 and 2019. During the letter, he expressed his affection and gratitude for the Blaugrana, who reportedly supported Diaz while his mother battled cancer.

Certainly it would be a surprising career move to leave Real Madrid after such a short amount of time for Leganes, and it would be more surprising that Real Madrid would choose to pay out his one-year deal if it were his choice.