Eduardo Camavinga of Rennes and France is arguably the hottest young prospect in world football
Eduardo Camavinga of Rennes and France is arguably the hottest young prospect in world football AFP / Damien MEYER

KEY POINTS

  • Stade Rennes' Eduardo Camavinga joins Real Madrid on a permanent deal
  • Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain were in the running for his signature
  • Camavinga will have Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric as his mentors at Real Madrid

With barely a day left in the summer transfer window, Eduardo Camavinga of Ligue 1's Stade Rennais has made a choice.

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano tweeted out the confirmation that Camavinga will be joining Real Madrid on a permanent deal worth over €31 million ($36.6 million), along with some add-ons, on a five-year contract.

Real Madrid was eyeing Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe through much of the transfer window, but when the French top-flight club was unwilling to play ball, the club decided to move on to other transfer targets.

Camavinga became a popular name in European football as a 16-year-old back in 2019 as he made Stade Rennais’ first team.

Over the years, Camavinga’s value only continued to grow, and that Stade Rennais was looking for a value of around $117 million in order to sell him to the most interested party.

With one year remaining on his contract, Stade Rennais opted to sell him while he still had value--but at a fraction of their original asking price.

For Real Madrid, the signing of the prolific 18-year-old midfielder comes at the perfect time as their midfield is aging and will need some of the dynamic plays that are borne out of a youngster’s desire to play.

Their central midfield, Camavinga’s projected position at the Bernabeu, features 29-year-old Brazilian Casemiro, 35-year-old Luka Modric of Croatia and 31-year-old Toni Kroos, who is still recovering from a case of pubalgia–a strain or tear of the soft tissue in the groin area.

Real Madrid has had a habit of taking promising young players from other clubs and developing them within their style of football, best exemplified in the cases of Reinier and Vinicius Junior.

The Angola-born Camavinga has the best mentors available to him in the form of Kroos, Modric and Casemiro.

Moreover, it is very much expected that he will do a ton of damage in the midfield, while also seeing if he and Fede Valverde can co-exist on the field at the same time.

Real Madrid started off their season on a high note as they picked up two wins and a draw over three games.

They will play their fourth La Liga game against Celta de Vigo on Sunday, September 12 at home.

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