Federico Valverde has become one of the best midfielders in recent times. He is a perfect box-to-box modern-day midfielder. He has great legs and can run fast with the ball and now he has added another feature to his game, goals. Real Madrid has a great future with him running their midfield.

Valverde signed for Real Madrid in 2016 from Uruguayan club Penarol. He played for Real Madrid Castilla in his first season and in his second season, he was loaned to Deportivo La Coruna. From the 2018-19 season, Valverde started to make his mark as a substitute and start against lower-ranked teams. Fast forward to this season, Valverde has now become an indisputable starter in the Real Madrid XI.

So, here we will take a look at the top 10 unknown facts about the 24-year-old Uruguayan.

Top 10 things you didn’t know about Federico Valverde

1. Valverde showed his interest in football at a very young age. He was enrolled into a football academy as a toddler. When he was 2 years old, he started playing with football at his home and was enrolled into a football academy for babies at just 3 years of age.

2. He has lots of experience being a mascot. You have to be 6 years old to play in official games, but he got enrolled into the academy at just 3 years of age. So, in his initial years at the academy, he was sent as a mascot to bigger clubs and probably he got the feel of the big stage from a very young age.

3. Valverde had his first trial at just 8 years of age. He started his football career at a very young age, so it is no surprise that he had his trial at 8 years. He gave his trial at Uruguayan club Penarol’s academy and was accepted. He spent many years at the club and was also promoted to the senior team.

4. Unlike today, Valverde didn’t like running during his academy days. His coach wanted to play him as a defensive midfielder but he wanted to play as an attacking midfielder as he didn’t like to perform his defensive duties. He was later dropped by his coach. After spending a few matches on the bench, he transformed his game and got back into the team and went on to become an important player for his team.

5. Valverde had a trial at Arsenal during Arsene Wenger’s time but things didn’t work out and the deal collapsed.

6. Barcelona had the chance to sign the Uruguayan but rejected the move. The Catalan club didn’t agree on the asking price and decided against pursuing the deal. Later, their rivals Real Madrid signed him and he has now gone on to become one of the best.

Read: Valverde reveals what he felt on his first day at Real Madrid

7. Valverde has been accused of racism. During a FIFA under-20 World Cup, he celebrated a goal by stretching his eyes with his hand to pay tribute to his agent. This gesture was misunderstood as a racial slur towards the host country, South Korea. He later explained himself and his actions and cleared the matter.

8. His football idol is Diego Forlan. When Valverde was growing up, Forlan was one of the best players of the country who was performing at the highest level, so it is quite natural for him to follow his countryman.

9. Valverde is younger than his wife. His wife is 5 years older than him. There isn’t any rule that a footballer needs to be older than his wife as there are many occasions of players being younger than their wives like Pique is around 10 years younger than Shakira, and Ibrahimovic is around 12 years younger than his wife.

10. Valverde’s child has a special birth date and time! His son, Benicio, was born on 20th February 2020 (20-02-2020). The birth time is also unique as he was born on the 2nd minute of the day, 00:02 minute.

_Source