DBasia.news – Real Madrid’s young striker, Rodrygo, has become a byword in Europe. Reportedly he had also been assessed by Liverpool.
Rodrygo, 18, stole his attention through his hat-trick against Galatasaray in the Champions League group match on Thursday (11/07) early morning Western Indonesian Time. Real Madrid won 6-0 at Santiago Bernabeu through Rodrygo’s hat-trick, two goals from Karim Benzema, and Sergio Ramos.
The hat-trick set a new record for Rodrygo who equaled Kylian Mbappe and Raul Gonzalez. The record for the second-youngest three goalscorers in the Champions League after Raul, plus the youngest to score three goals in one match with left, right foot, and header.
The Santos academy product shows capital to be the star of the future. Real Madrid has secured a valuable asset. But according to Elano Blumer, former Santos coach Rodrygo was once assessed by Liverpool.
The Reds – Liverpool’s nickname – submitted a proposal to Santos to recruit him, but Elano assessed the offer given by the Merseyside club was too low until Madrid came and recruited the player born in Osasco, January 9, 2001.
“(Had) There was an interesting offer from Liverpool for the player (Rodrygo) when he was involved in the young category. They were interested in securing his service, but at that time the offer was too low,” Elano told ESPN.
“After that, there was an offer from Real Madrid and after I talked to the club, I told them that the child deserves to be given the opportunity.”
Elano, a former Manchester City player who now coaches Inter de Limeira, has seen Rodrygo’s talents since he was playing at the Santos youth academy or team.
“Even when he was younger, people could see his great talent. He had a lot of tricks and showed great moves, it was only a matter of time before he broke into the Santos first team,” Elano added.
Rodrygo bore high hopes from Madridista – a term for Madrid fans – to cover up their desire to see Neymar in Madrid’s uniform. At the age of 20 years, Rodrygo’s career is still very long.
“Hopes for Rodrygo are very high from the start, even though he still has a lot to learn,” Elano concluded.