Real Madrid News
Real Madrid have sent scouts to watch €40 million La Liga midfield prodigy – Romano
Fabrizio Romano (h/t Madrid Xtra) is reporting that Real Madrid have sent scouts to watch Celta Vigo midfield prodigy Gabri Veiga ahead of the summer transfer window.
The Spanish youngster is enjoying a stunning breakthrough campaign at Celta Vigo this season. A product of the Galician outfit’s youth setup, the 20-year-old has racked up 23 appearances in La Liga, posting an impressive tally of eight goals and three assists.
Naturally, the midfield prospect’s performances have sparked the interest of several clubs across Europe. Romano has claimed that many teams from Spain and England are monitoring Veiga, with Real Madrid having sent scouts to watch him this season already.
It is no secret that Los Blancos will need a revamp in their midfield department in the near future. Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are in the final phase of their respective careers and are also out of contract at the end of the season.
There is no guarantee that either of them will renew for another year. Even in the scenario that they do, the next season would very likely be their last and hence planning for the future is the need of the hour at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Jude Bellingham is the top target to strengthen the midfield department at Real Madrid. But his €150 million price tag could become a hindrance while interest from the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City would also make things tricky.
This is where Veiga could enter the picture. The 20-year-old has a release clause worth just €40 million which would be more than affordable for Real Madrid in case they do opt to go after the Celta Vigo star.
Even if they do sign Bellingham, it would not be in the worst interests of the Merengues to go after Veiga, with Dani Ceballos’ contract also expiring at the end of the ongoing campaign.
A promising talent who is already making waves in La Liga, Veiga could be primed for a big move in the near future. Whether he ends up at Real Madrid will be interesting to see.
In less than two weeks, Real Madrid will play hosts to Premier League giants Chelsea in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It is a repeat of last season’s Champions League quarter-final, with the change being that the first leg was played at Stamford Bridge back then, which Real Madrid won triumphantly.
So, even though they lost the second leg 3-2, Los Merengues progressed on aggregate. At one point in the second leg, Real Madrid were 3-0 down and looked to be crashing out of the tournament.
But, that is not how the match played out as Luka Modric produced a moment of magic, sending in a stunning outside-of-the-boot pass for Rodrygo to guide home. That forced the match into extra time and Karim Benzema then scored to seal an aggregate win for his team.
Mateo Kovacic, a former Real Madrid midfielder, was on the losing side with Chelsea on that fateful night. And the Croatian has now spoken to Sportske Novosti, about that moment of magic from Modric last year as well as the prospect of facing Real Madrid again.
“We were good against Real Madrid last year, especially in Madrid. Then Modrić invented that trivela assist for Rodrygo… We have to be at 120% against them. They immediately punish every minor mistake. Although I repeat, we are also a difficult opponent for them, we showed it,“ Kovacic said.
On the prospect of facing his close friend and national teammate Modric, Kovacic added: “[laughs] how the draw arranges it… It won’t be easy for us because Real Madrid is always the most dangerous team in the Champions League.”
“It’s a strange feeling to have Modric as a rival. There were hard fouls last year because neither he nor I pull back. We will fight for sure. I play on the left, he’s on the right, we will see who wants what. But I wouldn’t like to hurt him,” he added.
Chelsea had met Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League during the 2020/21 campaign as well and had managed to eliminate them at the semi-final stages on their way to winning the title.
While the Blues have not been in the best of form this season, they have the star power and quality in their ranks to hurt Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti’s men must be at their best to get through to the next round.
