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.
Arda Guler’s Real Madrid stint has not gotten off to the start he would have hoped to have given the expectation that preceded the transfer.
Having joined in the summer after Real Madrid outbid their competition to win him over from Fenerbahce for a 20-million-euro fee, buzz was high as the winger was expected to slot into the team quite seamlessly, albeit on a rotational basis.
Unfortunately for the 18-year-old, he has been constantly marred by injuries since completing the move.
Reports have stated that after Guler picked up his third injury since his move, Real Madrid have been concerned and want to take things slow with the player to ensure he is fit as soon as possible after an injury to his quadriceps this time.
The Turk is yet to make his competitive debut for the club, and Real Madrid even sacked their medical chief in November, in light of their injury crises since the beginning of the season.
No loan deal for Guler
However, according to Fabrizio Romano in a recent YouTube video, he states that Madrid maintain full trust and patience in the youngster.
Despite his bad luck with injuries, the latest of which he is scheduled to return from after Christmas, the Galacticos have no intention of loaning out Guler to Turkish clubs despite lots of speculation of them doing so of late.
Romano states that Madrid remain firm on not shaking things up too much with the squad, and they want to keep their roster stable, including Arda Guler.
They want to extend their full support and protection to the player as he aims to return to full fitness and finally make his bow for Madrid either by the end of this month or in 2024.
