What’s the story?
Real Madrid have set their sights on Brazilian starlet Alan Souza Guimaraes, after his performances for Brazil at the Under-17 Championship where they swept to the trophy, beating Chile 5-0 in the finals. The youngster was influential in the final, going on to score a hat-trick despite playing as a central midfielder.
Alan currently plays for Palmeiras and his contract doesn’t end until the summer of 2019.
According to reports, Los Blancos have transmitted their offer and interest via football agent Juan Figer, who has represented players like Luis Figo and Zico and even orchestrated Figo’s transfer to Real Madrid.
Also read: 5 Brazilian wonderkids to look out for
The Bernabeu club has been actively monitoring the Brazilian youngster after he began attracting attention as a star in the U-17 Club World Cup Final.
In case you didn’t know...
The 17-year-old attacking midfielder rejected offers from Inter Milan and major Brazilian clubs back in 2013 to join Palmeiras in order to get more first-team opportunities.
The heart of the matter
Real Madrid are slowly but steadily building a team for the future as they prepare for life without their star ‘BBC’ trio. Over the past few years, they’ve bought Martin Odegaard, Jesus Vallejo, Marco Asensio, Federico Valverde and even Sergio Dias to the club.
Alan, meanwhile, shone at the Under-17 Championship, scoring three goals and assisting a further six as he helped his side lift the trophy. A left-footed attacking midfielder with a striker's eye for goal, the 17-year-old has been widely viewed as one of the country’s brightest talents, behind only Vinicius Junior.
However, the Palmeiras midfielder's contract only ends in the summer of 2019 and has a release clause of a little over €50 million.
However, that has not deterred the Merengues as the club plan to reach a pre-agreement with the player and Palmeiras. But given that Manchester United have also added the player to their shortlist, it will be a tough decision to make for Alan.
Video
Author’s Take
Alan hasn’t been on the shortlist of European clubs other than Real Madrid, Manchester United and Inter Milan. However, now that the Los Blancos have shown a lingering interest in the player, he could soon become the subject of a bidding war.
Real Madrid are known for betting on young stars with the likes of Casemiro, Robinho, Marcelo and even Iker Casillas, all joining Los Blancos as young players before going on to make their presence known for the first team, hence a move to Spain would be ideal for Alan.
