Rodrygo Goes Coming Good for Madrid
Blessed with pace and dribbling ability, Rodrygo goes anounced himself to the footballing world with a stunning hat-trick against Galatasaray.
Born in Osasco, São Paulo to a football father Eric who was a right back. The young Brazilian has been destined for great things signing a sponsorship deal with Nike at age 12 after a tournament in New York where he represented Santos.
Touted as the next Neymar and the best prospect since the great Pele, Rodrygo made his debut for the senior side in 2017 at 16 but was limited to just two appearances in the league. However, a year later he exploded onto the scene playing 58 times in all, netting 12 goals and providing four assists.
For his performance, he was awarded Campeonato Paulista Best newcomer trophy and European top sides took notice.
In the summer of 2019, Madrid shelled out 45 million euros for the 18 year-old, few outside Brazil knew who he was and questioned the rationale behind the transfer seeing that Madrid was fully stocked in the attacking department.
At his unveiling, Madrid president Florentino Perez was adamant that they had signed “one of the great prodigies”.
“Our strategy is always about finding emerging talent,incorporating young players who want to mark an era in Madrid”.
On his debut in the ICC cup against Bayern Munich, he showed the fans a glimpse of what to come with a beautiful free-kick leaving everyone in the stadium stunned.
His first competitive goal came against Osasuna as Madrid ran out two nill winners. Rodrygo has a football brain beyond his age and with madrid going through some sort of transition, his emergence is a welcome development for the los blancos who have flattered to deceive this season.