One, two, three. Hat-trick. And a standing ovation from the Santiago Bernabeu. Mbappé? No, he didn't even play in that match. And it wasn't Haaland, Semenyo or any of Guardiola's other players either. The man who scored three goals in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 between Real Madrid and Manchester City was Federico Valverde, who once again proved himself to be one of the best midfielders in the world. A box-to-box midfielder but also a right-back when needed, with attacking midfielder statistics: this season, he has been involved in 18 of Real Madrid's goals, scoring six and providing 12 assists. Phenomenal statistics.
AFPTranslated by
2016-2026, Valverde's ten years at Real Madrid: from Zidane's intuition to the hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League
VALVERDE'S 10 YEARS AT REAL MADRID
Real Madrid signed him 10 years ago from Peñarol, where he had played just 10 matches. In fact, they had already secured him the year before to stay ahead of the competition. The price? €5 million. Today, it's laughable. Los Merengues managed his development with care and attention, the club was careful to let him take each step at the right time, and today, voilà, they have a top player on their hands: he started with Real Madrid Castilla, the Blancos' youth team, then went on loan to Deportivo La Coruña, which remains his only experience away from Madrid. The coach who had the intuition to give him continuity as a starter was Zinedine Zidane in 2019-20, the season in which he scored his first goal for Real and won his first La Liga title. The rest is history, made up of awards, trophies (14) and goals. His speciality is shooting from outside the box, and among his statistics to note is his 91% pass accuracy.
CONTRACT, TERMINATION CLAUSE AND THE INTEREST OF UNITED
He has a contract with Real Madrid until June 2029 and a release clause that is unattainable for anyone: the figure is €1 billion, something that not even Arab clubs can afford. To date, beyond the clause, it seems impossible to see Federico Valverde wearing another shirt: last summer there were rumours of interest from Manchester United, but the player never considered leaving the Spanish club. The player is grateful to the club that scouted him as a youngster in Uruguay and brought him to the top of the world. And today, the Bernabeu stood up for him.
Advertisement
