Real Madrid have reportedly beaten archrivals Barcelona in order to sign highly-rated Real Mallorca defensive wonderkid Rafael Obrador.
Spanish publication Marca have claimed that Real Madrid have managed to beat Barcelona in the race to sign Rafael Obrador. The Real Mallorca youngster is highly-rated and has been courted by Real Madrid for a while now, with the left-back finally getting his dream move.
As per the report, Barcelona began showing interest in the 16-year-old from October, 2019. However, Obrador had his sights set on a move to Real Madrid, which seems to be finally happening, with Real Mallorca agreeing a deal with Los Blancos.
MARCA: Real Madrid beat Barcelona to sign of 16-year-old left-back Rafael Obrador from Mallorca. He is one of the most talented young players in Spanish football. pic.twitter.com/hXmlks2FZX
— M•A•J (@Ultra_Suristic) October 5, 2020
Rafael Obrador is widely regarded as one of the best young Spanish talents in his age group and is touted for big things in the future. The left-back was recently awarded with a first-team debut by RCD Mallorca in La Liga, coming on to play three minutes in a 2-2 draw against Osasuna.
Barcelona and Real Madrid have always been at loggerheads when it comes to recruiting and to an extent, poaching the best Spanish talents from other clubs.
Of late though, Barcelona have seen several enterprising youngsters depart their setup, citing no clear pathway into the first-team, with the latest one being Marc Jurado, who completed a move to Manchester United this summer. Real Madrid also lost Alvaro Carreras to Manchester United.
However, Los Blancos‘ academy setup has been getting rave reviews in recent years, with Fede Valverde leading the charge.
Marc Jurado (FC Barcelona)
Álvaro Fernández Carreras (Real Madrid)
Alejandro Garnacho (Atletico Madrid)The #mufc Academy have been shopping in Spain this summer ?? pic.twitter.com/k5ofMdl9Hh
— utdreport Academy (@utdreportAcad) September 8, 2020
The left-back slot is a problematic one for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barcelona don’t have enough backup in the youth ranks to take over from Jordi Alba and Junior Firpo, with Juan Miranda the only enterprising prospect while the club seem to have brought in Andres Solano from Atletico Madrid on loan with an option to buy the player.
For Real Madrid, there is no one in the Castilla ranks to play at left-back other than the recently promoted Miguel Gutierrez. Bringing in Rafael Obrador will solve that problem.
So far, there has been no talks of the financials involved in the Obrador deal. But, Real Madrid have pounced on the opportunity to secure the future of another promising talent at the Bernabeu. Only time will tell how good he turns out to be.
