There is only one week left until Real Madrid returns to training for the new season, and shortly thereafter, one of the most eagerly awaited signings of the summer will join the team: Franco Mastantuono, who in just a few days will be under the command of Xabi Alonso.
Franco Mastantuono and his arrival at Real Madrid
Franco Mastantuono is not yet of legal age, but he will be on August 14, the date on which his contract with Real Madrid begins. The club and player have signed a six-year contract, after the club chaired by Florentino Pérez paid River Plate $63.2 million for the young Argentine gem. The deal was made official on June 13, two days before the start of the Club World Cup.
However, the Argentine player will arrive in the Spanish capital before that date: he will do so this weekend, to begin his new period of adaptation on Monday, August 4, the same day that the entire club squad is scheduled to meet in Valdebebas to kick off the new season.
Little time to adapt
It is taken for granted that the footballer will find it difficult to adapt, but he will have to try to make this process as quick as his arrival on the football scene, and with good reason. Real Madrid kicks off its league campaign on Tuesday, August 19, just 16 days after the team gets underway and only five days after Mastantuono’s contract officially begins.
If nothing changes regarding a possible postponement of the match—the final decision is still pending—the young Argentine footballer will have less than a week to settle in with his new teammates and begin his career as a Real Madrid player.
Mastantuono, the talent that makes Argentine soccer dream
Mastantuono has had a very early start to his career. At just 17 years of age, he has become one of the most important players at River Plate. In fact, both the player and the team wanted him to stay until the end of 2025, but the call from Real Madrid was too tempting to turn down. As those close to him have said, only a call from the Spanish giants could make him leave Argentina, and that is exactly what has happened.
At his young age, he has become the youngest player to score a goal in the Copa Libertadores and the youngest player to score a goal against Boca Juniors (the eternal rival) while wearing the River Plate jersey. In Scaloni‘s latest squad list, he received a call from the national team to join a star-studded squad, the current world champions.
Real Madrid did not hesitate when it came to signing the Argentine player. Florentino Pérez and the club’s board had been following the player for several years, and when speculation arose about interest from other major European clubs, they went all out to sign him, making him the most expensive signing in the history of River Plate.
It won’t be long now before Mastantuono becomes a Real Madrid player. It will happen in two weeks, but this weekend he will arrive in the capital to begin his acclimatization period. Real Madrid are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Argentine gem, a player who is destined to make his mark on world football.