One of the biggest stories of midweek in the Champions League was Rodrygo – the 18-year-old who became the second youngest to score a hat-trick in the competition behind Raul.
The Brazilian prodigy notched three against Galatasaray and put in a scintillating performance which truly announced his talent to the world.
Rodrygo arrived at Real Madrid this summer from Santos, but Los Blancos actually secured his signature a year ago in 2018 for a hefty €45m.
It turns out that Liverpool were also keen on Rodrygo and actually submitted an offer for the teenager while he was at Santos – but it wasn’t high enough to convince his boyhood club to sell.
Former Santos manager Elano Blumer, who you’ll remember from his stint as a flamboyant playmaker with Manchester City, explained as much.
“There was strong interest from Liverpool for the kid when he was in the youth teams and they wanted him, but the offer was low,” he told ESPN, cited in Marca.
“Then the offer arrived from Real Madrid.
“I had a chat with the club and I told them the kid was worth gambling on and that I would like to work with him.”
Elano expanded on Rodrygo’s world-class potential:
“He already had this ability at a young age,” he said.
“There are very few players that are like that when they’re so young. He’s already mature and has a personality to his game.
“He’s technically gifted and he’s got great control with his movements. Therefore, he took no time settling into the Santos first team.”
It’s a shame we couldn’t have secured Rodrygo at the time, as he’d be the perfect player to support our front-three.
He can play anywhere along the frontline and is at the age where he could be slowly integrated in the starting XI.
Sadly, we’ll have to watch his progression from afar!
Hopefully the club is working tirelessly to secure the next big thing, behind the scenes, though.
Next summer could be a big one in the transfer market after we didn’t sign any players this summer just gone.