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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