The 18-year-old American goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina is likely to face a busy European summer transfer window as many top European clubs are targeting him. Real Madrid, the Spanish club giants, are reportedly ready to put a strong bid for him.
Gabriel Slonina has already played for US youth national teams in different age groups. Before his senior club career, he spent in the Chicago Fire youth academy. Later, he started his senior career for the same team in 2021.
Gabriel Slonina started MLS with a record
Slonina made his Major League Soccer (MLS) debut in August 2021 at the age of 17 years and 81 days as he became the youngest goalkeeper to start in an MLS game. He finished that game against New York City FC with a clean sheet (youngest goalkeeper to manage a clean sheet in MLS history) after making four saves for Chicago Fire in that goalless draw.
In the ongoing MLS season, the Chicago Fire goalkeeper Slonina is currently in the joint fifth position in the list of most clean sheets with five in 14 appearances. He has successfully saved 28 times in this competition (save percentage of 58.3%).
The US-born Slonina has Polish parents which also makes him eligible to serve for the Poland national football team. This May, the Polish senior team also asked him to join the national team for the upcoming UEFA Nations League, but the youngster rejected the call-up. He is serious about representing the United States.
Real Madrid and other top European clubs are interested in Slonina
According to recent reports by Fabrizio Romano, Real Madrid will soon put a bid for Gabriel Slonina. As their 23-year-old Ukrainian goalie Andriy Lunin is considering leaving the club this summer, the Spanish club is desperate to add a young talented goalkeeper to the squad soon. The Whites are very much impressed with Slonina, and they now want to catch him at an early age.
On the other hand, the German giants Bayern Munich, English clubs Chelsea, Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers are also very much interested in this young goalkeeper.