Report: Real Madrid Strikes €45M Deal for Santos 17-Year-Old Prospect Rodrygo
Real Madrid have reportedly come to an agreement with Santos over the transfer of 17-year-old wonderkid Rodrygo.
The striker has received a lot of interest recently - Barcelona initially the team expected to land him - but a €45m deal has been agreed between the European champions and the Brazilian outfit.
Having already parted ways with a similar amount of money for another teenage prodigy in Vinicius Junior, it's quite clear to see that Los Blancos are willing to put a lot of faith in youth. In hopes of unearthing the next Neymar, the club have been looking to Brazil for an unearthed gem, and they appear to think they've found one.
According to Marca, Santos have accepted a €45m offer from Real - which is believed to be the release clause of the youngster. The news will leave Barcelona frustrated. The Camp Nou outfit have been in talks to iron out a deal for a while now, but nothing has come to fruition.
Though the selling side did recently try to raise Rodrygo's release clause to €100m, Madrid moved too fast in their approach and Santos have been forced into selling their best player - who can't even buy alcohol yet.
Though the deal has been made, Rodrygo won't actually link up with his new teammates until January 2019 - similar to how Gabriel Jesus arrived at Manchester City.
With Vinicius Junior expected to arrive at the Bernabeu this summer, Real will finally be able to start seeing if their huge investment in youth is money well spent; six months before Rodrygo joins his young compatriot.
