Real Madrid News
Cold weather crashed Pedri’s potential move to Real Madrid in 2018 – report
A recent report from Diario AS has offered an interesting insight into the stages of Pedri’s career, where he was close to joining Real Madrid.
At the age of just 15, Pedri was playing for Juventud Laguna de Tenerife. He was already represented by an agency at the time. In 2018, under the recommendation of former Real Madrid midfielder Omar Mascarell, Hector Peris, the founder of Pedri’s agency, contacted Alfredo Merino, who was the talent spotter for Real Madrid.
There was not much of a response from the Valdebebas at the time. But upon persisting, Peris was able to show Pedri’s videos to Merino, who went on to invite Pedri to pass a test in the Real Madrid sports complex, even though the player was not favoured much by the Whites.
With UD Las Palmas also on the lookout, Pedri’s visit had to be made imminent. He travelled to the Madrid sports complex in February 2018. Accompanied by his father, the youngster had to reside at the Valdebebas facility for youth players.
However, that is when fate sided with FC Barcelona. On the first day, the training was suspended by the accumulation of snow on the pitch. A huge snowfall had hit the capital a few days prior to Pedri’s arrival.
On the second day, Pedri was slated to feature in Cadet A, who was supposed to play a friendly. However, he could not participate due to licensing issues. He had to settle for a session with Cadet B, with the capital still freezing in the aftermath of the snowfall.
On the third day of training, Pedri was not able to make an impression in the midst of freezing cold temperatures. It must be noted that the youngster had hailed from the Canary region, which is known for hot summers.
Consequently, after three difficult days, Pedri was sent back by Real Madrid with a ‘thank you for coming and goodbye’ note. Alfredo Merino, at the time, tried his best to convince his bosses to take another look at the midfielder at a later time.
But with him being the only admirer of Pedri within the Real Madrid camp, Pedri returned to Tenerife before eventually sealing his homecoming by joining Las Palmas in May.
A year later, he would join FC Barcelona on a €17 million deal that has turned out to be an excellent piece of business for the Catalans, as Pedri has since established himself as one of the best young players in world football.
Real Madrid News
Rayo Vallecano manager names the one Real Madrid figure he would remove from the team
Rayo Vallecano face a daunting trip to the Santiago Bernabeu to take on a wounded Real Madrid this weekend.
Life after Inigo Perez has not been kind to the Vallecas-based club, who have already had to travel to Camp Nou and now face a trip to the home of their city giants.
Speaking ahead of the game (h/t Madrid Xtra), Rayo Vallecano manager Benat San Jose was asked which Real Madrid player he would like to remove from the team before this weekend’s game.
Surprisingly, his choice was not Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior or Thibaut Courtois.
“Mourinho”
Asked which Madrid player he would take out of the upcoming contest, Benat jokingly chose the man sitting on the opposition bench.
“Which Real Madrid player I’d remove from the match against them? Mourinho,” Benat said with a laugh.
The answer might have been delivered jokingly, but the Rayo coach immediately made clear just how highly he rates the Portuguese manager.
“He’s one of the best managers in history,” he added.
It is significant praise ahead of Saturday’s meeting at the Bernabeu.
Madrid’s squad contains enough individual quality to give any opposition coach several obvious answers, but Benat instead highlighted the influence Mourinho can have over the entire team.
That has become particularly relevant since the Portuguese coach returned to Madrid. His early work has focused on making a talented group function with greater collective discipline.
Courtois and Madrid’s attack also praised
Benat did not stop with the manager.
“They also have one of the best GKs in history and one of the best attackers in history,” he said.
Benat will definitely have seen how Thibaut Courtois played against Inter Milan in midweek and will hope that version does not turn up again this weekend.
Even when teams manage to create opportunities against Madrid, they still have to beat one of the defining goalkeepers of his generation.
At the opposite end, Madrid possess attacking quality capable of turning a match on its head.
The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham can all decide matches single-handedly.
Madrid have a point to prove
Madrid are coming off a disappointing loss to Real Betis in La Liga last weekend and will come into this game with a point to prove.
They will want to ensure that the loss to the Andalusian club was a one-off and that they return to winning ways against Rayo.
Their title rivals, Barça, have been flying high in the league, scoring goals and picking opponents apart for fun.
Madrid need to ensure that they do not hand too much early incentive to Barça, and it remains to be seen how Los Blancos fare against Rayo Vallecano.
