Real Madrid News
Real Madrid interested in 17-year-old Spanish defensive prodigy, offer tabled
According to AS, Real Madrid have set their sights on Malaga’s teenage defensive prodigy Izan Merino and have already made a move to sign him this summer.
A product of the Malaga youth academy, Merino is a centre-back who can also operate in the defensive midfield position.
Despite being just 17 years old, the teenager is already playing for Malaga’s reserve team and has been training with the first-team setup under the orders of manager Sergio Pellicer.
Merino also has three caps for the Spanish Under-17 national team, for whom he made his debut in May earlier this year.
The youngster’s talent and potential have alerted Real Madrid, who have already acted upon their interest in him by tabling an offer.
Indeed, as per the report, the Spanish capital giants have sent in a proposal worth €250,000 for the teenager.
Malaga reluctant to sell
However, Malaga are reluctant to lose one of the gems of their youth system by allowing Merino to leave for Real Madrid.
The club’s sporting director Loren Juarros recently confirmed that Los Blancos are indeed trying to sign the 17-year-old, but they plan on convincing him to stay.
“Real Madrid were interested in Izan quite some time ago and we are stopping them. Izan is a boy with deep roots at the club and we are going to do everything we can to stop him leaving,” he said.
“We want him to stay and Málaga are not considering any other option. Real Madrid have expressed interest, but we’ve never thought about him leaving here.”
Merino has a contract with Malaga until 2025 with a €3 million release clause. It is clear by Juarros’ words that they do not wish to lose the talented youngster this summer.
Whether Real Madrid can convince them to part ways with the teenage defender remains to be seen.
Locking horns in what is invariably perceived as an intense affair, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid concluded their most recent clash with controversy enshrouding the result.
Diego Simeone’s cavalry came out on top with a 3-1 win, but the reactions by both sides after the game implied a sense of bad blood, which appears to be an ongoing matter.
The Merengues expressed their displeasure with some of the referee’s decisions during their Real Madrid TV broadcast, highlighting the ‘blatant errors’ they felt referee Javier Alberola Rojas and the VAR had committed.
However, in response to the allegations, Atletico Madrid CEO has retaliated with his own accusations, not holding back against Real Madrid.
Gil Marin accuses Madrid of cheating
As per MARCA, Atletico Madrid CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin believes that the Real Madrid-related media atmosphere is exerting pressure on the referee teams for the upcoming games.
“Real Madrid cheats the competition. They create unbearable pressure on the referees. The arguments they use are funny but very serious and directly affect the competition,” he boldly exclaimed.
Real Madrid pointed out a bucketload of errors made by the referee on Madrid TV, including goals that should not have stood and violations that warranted sending-offs.
Even so, Gil Marin has not taken these assertions lightly and privately mocked the actions of Real Madrid’s claims.
“They are fanatics. They know that if they do not say these types of things, they would quickly lose their jobs,” he said.
Moreover, he alluded to the instance of Jude Bellingham’s tackle on Angel Correa in the dying embers of the game and how the narrative would have been vastly different if the roles were reversed.
“We wouldn’t be talking about anything else [had that happened],” he concluded.
