Real Madrid News
Barcelona starlet confirms he trialled for Real Madrid before joining La Masia
Ansu Fati is widely recognised as one of the most talented young footballers in Spain. A product of Barcelona’s La Masia youth academy, the young forward has been at the Catalan club for over ten years now.
Since breaking into the first-team setup at Camp Nou, he has accumulated 78 appearances, scoring 22 goals and setting up nine more.
However, things could have turned out very different for the 20-year-old forward as he could have very well been stepping out onto the pitch in the whites of Real Madrid.
Indeed, in a recent interview, Ansu Fati has sensationally revealed that he had a trial with Real Madrid and could have joined the academy earlier in his youth career. However, the lack of residence facilities at La Fabrica made him and his father choose a move to Barcelona instead.
Speaking to France Football (h/t BeFootball), Fati said: “Before I signed for Barça, I had a trial at Real Madrid. At that time, the club didn’t have a residence to accommodate its young players. So, with my father, we decided that Barça was the best option, with La Masia.”
Fati was at Sevilla’s youth academy before he made the switch to Barcelona in 2012. So, the aforementioned trial might have happened just before that. Past reports have suggested that the 20-year-old Spanish international even played in a few matches for Los Blancos’ youth teams.
However, the stars just did not align for Fati and Real Madrid to join hands and instead, he ended up moving to Barcelona, where he has flourished.
Real Madrid News
Real Madrid midfielder trained away from the group last week, but has no injury – report
With the international break underway, several Real Madrid players have been called up for national team assignments. The stars who have not travelled for international duty have continued to work at the club’s Valdebebas training facility to prepare for the restart.
Toni Kroos is one such player who has remained in Madrid, having retired from international football back in 2021.
However, there had been concerns growing around the 33-year-old’s physical condition as he regularly did indoor work last week and was not spotted in group training with his teammates.
Now, Sergio Quirante has come up with an update on Kroos’ situation, stating that even though the midfielder largely did individual work inside the facilities over the last week, he is fine and has no injuries.
Taking advantage of the international break, the former Bayern Munich superstar is understood to have gone through an individual program to prepare for the final, decisive stretch of the 2022/23 season.
Kroos not being injured comes as a big positive for Real Madrid, ahead of important games against Real Valladolid and Barcelona within the first five days of April.
The rest of the Real Madrid midfield contingent – Luka Modric, Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde, and Dani Ceballos – are all away on international duties and could return with some fatigue from the travel.
So, it is important that Kroos is fully fit and ready to go as Real Madrid look to cut down the gap to the top of the table in La Liga and also make it to the finals of the Copa del Rey by overturning a first-leg deficit against Barcelona in the semi-finals.
Kroos has played 37 matches this season, chipping in with two goals and five assists in the process. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, it is still unclear whether he will renew or hang up his boots.
