FC Barcelona have a renowned tradition of discovering and polishing young talent, and the club is always on the lookout for any promising talent who has the characteristics to become a top-class player.
While the club is naturally not able to sign all these players they are associated with, the intent is still there to get the best young players. One such player who showed world-class potential and was pursued by Barcelona but did not join the Catalan club was the Brazilian youngster Rodrygo Goes.
Rodrygo has become one of the focal points of Real Madrid’s attack this season, as Karim Benzema has departed and Ancelotti is implementing a two-striker scheme with Vinicius joining his compatriot in the attack.
However, history could have been significantly different, as the Brazilian was closer to joining Barcelona after he exploded in Brazil. Rodrygo recently gave an interview to GE Globo, in which he touched upon different topics, including his move to Europe.
Regarding the possibility of him moving to Barcelona and the last-minute entry of Real Madrid in the race to sign him, the Brazilian disclosed the story of how his move to Real Madrid materialized:
Everything was practically set with Barcelona, only the signing was missing, and I would ask my father: ‘Nothing from Real Madrid?’. Offers were coming in from all the teams, but nothing from Real. So, I asked to wait for the weekend because we had a match against Vitória.
I went to the game against Vitória, scored three goals, provided an assist, and we won 5-2. During the match, Real Madrid called my father and didn’t even need to make an offer. They just asked if I wanted to go, and my father already knew my answer.
The next day, I had a day off, playing video games with my mother when my father left in the morning without saying anything. In the late afternoon, he arrived in Santos, walked into the house, and passed by me and my mother at the table without speaking to anyone.
He went straight to my room, and there were a Real Madrid shirt and a Barcelona shirt. Since everything was settled, he had already traveled to visit Barcelona’s facilities and brought back their shirt; I already had Real Madrid’s.
He took the two shirts, threw them on me, and said, ‘Now, you choose.’ I didn’t understand fully, but I didn’t even need to think – it was Real Madrid.
Thus speculating from his comments, everything was ready for Rodrygo to move to Barcelona before Real Madrid were even in the race to sign him.
However, the youngster clearly had his heart set on joining Real Madrid, and his move to the Spanish capital has definitely been a successful one for him, as he has won almost every possible trophy with Los Blancos at only 22 years old.
