Real Madrid wants to sign a youngster dubbed the ‘new Pedri’ in a nod to the established FC Barcelona star according to AS, which cited anonymous sources.
Los Blancos famously turned down the midfielder when he was unknown, after Pedri failed to pass a trial with them.
“I went to try out with Real Madrid but they told me I wasn’t at the right level. I thank those who told me that I wouldn’t make it, now I am in the team that I have always loved,” he told El Larguero in 2020 regarding the matter, amid his Barca breakthrough.
“Putting on a Madrid shirt was strange, I have always gone with Barcelona’s,” added the 21-year-old – a lifelong Culer whose father was the president of a local Barca fan club known as a ‘penya’.
Barca buying Pedri from Las Palmas for an initial $5.2 million (€5 million) in 2019 proved to be one of the bargains of the century, and a rare step in the right direction in terms of transfers from soon-to-be outgoing President Josep Bartomeu at the time.
Bartomeu’s overspending on the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho with the Neymar money and then some helped put the club on the brink of financial ruin alongside a lack of income such as matchday revenue when the pandemic took hold.
Almost half a decade later, Barca is back on track both on and off the field. As for Pedri, he is arguably the best version of himself under Hansi Flick at the moment, seeming to have finally gotten over his injuries while having his team six points clear over bitter rival Madrid at the top of the La Liga table.
It comes as no surprise that rivals would fall over themselves to try and sign a young promise dubbed the ‘new Pedri’, with ASexplaining that another Tenerife native and midfielder Aaron Martin is “on the agenda of Real Madrid, among others” to strengthen its squad.
Martin is “considered a piece that can contribute a lot in the immediate future to the Castilla [the reserves] and in the longer term to the first team”.
In another similarity to Pedri, Martin can be picked up for a bargain of around $2.1 million (€2 million), which is less than half what Barca agreed to pay for its number eight.
Commended for his vision of the game, Martin stands out for the precision in his right foot and has quickly gone from the youth team to the seniors with few matches in the reserves.
Scouted by them for a while, it remains to be seen which Spanish outfit can convince the prodigy and his camp that their sporting project is the best for his development.
