Real Madrid are reportedly poised to beat arch-rivals Barcelona for the transfer of 12-year-old Spanish prodigy Bryan Bugarin this summer.
According to a report from ESPN journalist Moises Llorens, La Liga giants Barcelona have lost out to arch-rivals Real Madrid in the race for the signing of 12-year-old prodigy Bryan Bugarin from Celta Vigo.
Bugarin, who plays for Celta Vigo’s youth teams in the La Liga Promises, has managed to catch the eye of the two of the biggest clubs in the land with some stunning displays. The 12-year-old forward ended the Promises tournament as the MVP after bagging as many as nine goals, with his instincts in front of the goal and natural finishing ability attracting both Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Barcelona and Real Madrid have shown great focus towards strengthening their academy ranks in the recent past, with both clubs making several additions to the youth sides as well as their respective B teams of late as they look to build stars for the next generation from within.
Bugarin would have been another such addition to the ranks considering the immense promise and potential that he has shown just at the age of 12. Indeed, the young prodigy is widely regarded as the best player in his age group in the country. So, it mustn’t come as a surprise that both Barcelona and Real Madrid made a play to sign him up.
Llorens claims in his update that Bugarin visited Barcelona’s La Masia facility with his parents, which would have given them an advantage over their rivals. However, any such advantage was lost due to the complete restructuring of management at the grassroots level, due to which the Catalans submitted a late and unconvincing offer for the 12-year-old sensation.
But their offer proved to be futile, and now, the Celta Vigo prodigy is said to be bound for Real Madrid’s La Fabrica. The Merengues have already brought in promising youngsters like Ruben Montero, who arrived from the academy of Albacete and Jose Maria Arevalo, who signed from Tiro Pichon, with Bugarin now likely to be the latest in line to make the switch to the club’s youth setup.
