Real Madrid’s current squad is budding with talented youngsters, set to star in the next decade for Los Blancos. Vinicius Jr leads that list, followed by fellow Brazilians Rodrygo and Eder Militao.
Aside from them all being from Brazil, there is one other common thread linking them together. And it is one that not many are aware of.
Juni Calafat is the man that ties in all the three players with Real Madrid. Calafat is Real Madrid’s chief scout, and was tasked with finding a generational talent in 2017. Florentino Perez asked the scout to find a player who he thought could become the best in the world, and as a result, Vinicius Jr came into the picture.
How did Juni Calafat recruit the youngsters?
Calafat and Vinicius met for the first time in Rio de Janeiro, and have a friendship that remains intact to this day. Juni Calafat flew to Brazil more than ten times to personally talk to Vinicius and convince the then 16-year-old to come to the Spanish capital.
While there have been questions asked of Calafat and Vinicius when the player’s form has dropped, they can hardly be valid now. Vinicius is among the best wingers in the world right now, and is set to sign a new deal with Los Blancos.
The same applies for Eder Militao. While fans and board members were more inclined towards a move for Matthijs De Ligt, Juni Calafat opted to go for Militao, and the investment seems to have paid off now that Militao is impressing every single week in the white shirt.
