Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso attempted to take a member of Los Blancos’ summer recruitment drive to Germany with Bayer Leverkusen earlier this year.
That’s according to The Athletic, who point towards Franco Mastantuono as the player in question.
Youngster Mastantuono has of course taken his place centre stage in the headlines in Spain’s capital across the day to date.
This comes after the Argentine was finally presented in front of the media as a Real Madrid player.
Mastantuono put pen to paper on terms at the Santiago Bernabéu earlier this summer, with an agreement that the 18-year-old would go on to line out for River Plate at the Club World Cup.
Ahead of the start of the La Liga campaign this weekend, though, he has since gone on to travel to Spain.
And yet, as alluded to above, had things played out differently earlier this year, then Mastantuono could well have been preparing for a debut in German football, instead.
As per a report from The Athletic:
‘Other clubs made plays for Mastantuono. These included Bayer Leverkusen in this year’s winter transfer window, when Alonso was still their head coach and Mastantuono’s release clause was €35million.’
In the end, however, the BayArena brass ‘dawdled’, allowing Real Madrid to enter the fray in decisive fashion.
Conor Laird – GSFN
