Real Madrid | Camavinga, the heir to Pogba who was born to play for Madrid

There is a little-known story about childhood of Eduardo Camavinga (Miconge, Angola, 2002) which explains perfectly how I was predestined to be a star and to take on responsibilities that are well above those of a young person of his age. I was only ten years old when a fire completely burned the house that his parents had built, with their own hands, in a modest neighborhood of the town of Fouguéres, 50 kilometers from Rennes. A whole life turned into cured meats. “I remember as if it were yesterday the day of the fire. I was at school and through the windows I could see the firefighters who kept on going at full speed. But I did not realize that I could have a relationship with my house, ”the young star recently told Ouest France. “In the late afternoon, the teacher came to see us, I was with my sister. He told us that there had been a fire in our house. My father was just arriving and we ran away. I saw with my own eyes the burned house. On top of that, the fire had started on the first floor and my room was upstairs… All my clothes burned. All our things were burned. “ Fortunately, at the time of the fire, the father was working in the pig slaughterhouse where he worked until its reconversion and the mother had not yet returned from taking the rest of the brothers to school.

Eduardo was only two years old when his parents were forced to leave the land where he was born, in the Cabinda region, known as the Portuguese Congo, an area classified as very unstable by the violence generated by poverty and inequality and the fight for control of the benefits derived from oil. War and poverty had turned the whole family into Congolese refugees. They started a new life first in Lille and then in Fougéres, a few kilometers from Rennes. That house that had just burned down had only been built for a year. The Camavinga family was left with nothing again. You had to start again from scratch. The performance of one of the coaches of the modest Fougéres neighborhood team where Camavinga played soccer was essential to revive the situation. His name is Nicolás Martinais. He organized a collection of clothing and furniture in the town and the City Council relocated the Camavingas to a foster home. The day they went to collect the clothes and furniture donated by the people, Celestino, Camavinga's father, looked excitedly at his son: “Eduardo, you are the hope of the family, it will be you who will raise it …”. It was foreboding.

It's hard to imagine how a 10-year-old boy could fit that slab his own father put on his back. “It is true that my father told me that. But I was quite carefree then. I didn't take that phrase as seriously as he had said it at the time. So even I was funny. Over time and often as my mother reminded me of it, I understood that she was very serious. When my father told me that, we are going through a really bad time, ”said the footballer, who has still not been able to regain his roots. He still has to settle for talking on the phone twice a week with his grandparents, whom he has not managed to get to France from Angola today. Visiting them is the next pending task … He has already been able to give his parents a new house, yes. He paid it with his first professional salary in the Rennes owned by the billionaire François Pinault. He charges two million euros gross per season from the age of 16 …

Eduardo Camavinga was able to fulfill his father's prophecy even though he came to play soccer by absolute chance. At the age of nine he was much more interested in practicing judo. “My mother always accompanied my older brother and me to school because my brother used to get into trouble, he liked the fight very much,” he joked in a recent interview. “Then she ended up targeting judo. I went to see him and logically, being my older brother, in time I wanted to imitate him. I wanted to sign up for judo but my mother didn't want to. ” Mama Camavinga had other plans for the third of her five children. No one could deny that, like her husband, Sofia had a very good eye. “She was sick of him playing ball at home and breaking things. So he signed me up for football so he can let me off the hook. But it was just that. We had the soccer field attached to the house. That's where it all started. “ In fact, it began a story of overcoming that has ended up becoming the biggest breakthrough in French football after the appearance of Mbappé.

In France Camavinga begins to be known as ‘The heir of Pogba’, the latter, of Guinean descent. The irruption of the footballer of Angolan origin claimed by Madrid has coincided with a kind of decline of Pogba himself. The United team has only been able to play five games as a starter this season due to his constant injuries and, on the other hand, Camavinga has been included in the ideal eleven of France Football and L’Equipe at just 17 years old. The Rennes midfielder has the honor of being the youngest footballer of those born in 2002 to debut in one of the five major leagues. He did it against the Angers last May with 16 years, five months and 21 days. And the determined interest of Madrid, which has already contacted the player's representative, has made him jump to stardom definitively taking the witness of the figure of Pogba, who was until recently Zidane's great longing. Do the races and the way of playing of Pogba and Camavinga really have much to do? In the following video you can see carefully how they play …

“I want to be the midfielder who does everything well and at the highest level: shoot, dribble, score and defend.” That's the cover letter Pogba likes to hold on to and the one he usually uses to define himself. And that is the idea that also supports Camavinga's football. Pogba has long been the mirror in which one looked. But although in the field his physique and way of behaving make comparisons inevitable, There is a differential fact that places the careers of both in the antipodes. Pogba, represented by Mino Raiola, very soon began to move through professional soccer surrounded by controversy and instead Camavinga is a product protected both by its representative Moussa Sissoko and by Rennes himself, where he has gone through all the stages, and with the same coaches, until he debuted with the first team.

Pogba was only 16 years old when United signed him from Le Havre. Then, like Camavinga now, he was the young promise of French football. But he had no professional contract. Le Havre considered that movement as “a robbery from behind”. Pogba's parents had decided to terminate the contract they had signed until the end of the season to go to England, where the boy was paid ten times more. Le Havre He even released a statement accusing United of slavery: “While a lot of voices from everywhere, the European Union, the rulers, FIFA or UEFA are scandalized by the slavery that exists in the world, the most powerful football teams do it before our very noses without anyone doing anything “

Three seasons later, Pogba left United for Juventus for a million euros in the absence of opportunities. “I did not want to renew because I did not play (Ferguson), even if we did not have midfielders,” Pogba told The Times shortly after. After four dream seasons at Juventus, United signed him again, this time by 180 millions of euros. His career has been like riding a Ferris wheel.

Camavinga's sports life, on the other hand, seems far removed from all that noise and it is based on stability. It is a product cared for in the Rennes quarry, where players like Wiltord, Goucouff, Doucuré or Dembelé, The latter even shares a representative with our protagonist. In Camavinga's progression as a footballer there have been two fundamental men. They are Mathieu Le Scorniet and Julien Stephan, men of the house in Rennes. The first was the one who recruited him for the quarry when he played in the Fouguéres neighborhood team. The second, the one that made him debut at only 16 years old. Shortly after that debut, already at the start of the current season against Montpellier (on the first day), Julien Stephan opted for Camavinga as the starter and never left that position. At the end of that match against Montpellier, the coach gathered his players in the locker room: “The best of the match has been Camavinga.” It was a boost for his confidence. He was just 17 years old. But the praise was deserved. With one player less Rennes on the field, Camavinga won 63% of the duels and only missed one pass from 54. He was just 17 years old.

Now, the Rennes first team coaching couple, Mathieu Le Scorniet and Julien Stephan, are the main sentimental bond that the billionaire Pinault family is holding on to, owner of the club, to convince Camavinga to stay one more year and be able to play the Champions League with the team that launched him to stardom (if he qualifies in the pre-competition that will be played in late August). At the moment, Camavinga has the world at his feet, a French national, he does not occupy a place as a foreigner and the greats of Europe raffle it off. Nike anticipated any movement and tied him up with a big contract when he was only 16 years old. And despite everything, when asked if he is satisfied that he has finally raised his family, Camavinga's answer makes it clear that he is made of another paste: “Offer my parents a house, to compensate for the one burned, would it be raising my family? “he reflects. “Raising my family is not just a materialistic issue. Today my parents are happy, but I can make them happier. In my education, happiness is not exclusively linked to material things. It is a whole. A global balance.”

Regarding what one and the other, Pogba and Camavinga, can contribute in the field, there are opinions for all tastes. “The appearance of Camavinga has been something extraordinary. At 17, he's here to stay and doesn't even blink. Everything seems normal about him, “says Michael Balcan, Sports.fr journalist. “But I see many differences in Camavinga's game compared to Pogba's. United's seems to me more box to box, somewhat more virtuous with the ball, with more attack arrival. Camavinga, on the other hand, is a slightly more positional player without being as containment as Casemiro ”.

Continuing with the comparison, Benjamin Idrac of Ouest France, one of the journalists who has followed the Camavinga gate more closely has only words of praise for the midfielder. “He is much more mature than his age indicates. There are many of the Rennes players who see him as the true captain of the team. And he's 17 and a single full season as a pro! I am not lying to you if I tell you that the tranquility with which you operate in short distances impresses. And his professionalism ”.

Camavinga has taken advantage of the break due to the confinement due to the Pandemic to start a training plan. At 17 his body is undeveloped, and the people who advise the footballer, the coaches Thomas Choinard and Grégory Gaillard, they detected that the lack of corpulence was their great deficit. In just four months, he has gained five kilos of muscle mass. The plan will continue until the Rennes train again, already at the end of June, when a new Camavinga can be seen. Either way, the change it has undergone in recent years is simply spectacular.

The emergence of Camavinga has been the great theme on which the season that has already ended in French football has revolved. “It is very difficult to find a footballer in France who generates as much unanimity as Camavinga”, argues Fredéric Hermel, L’Equipe correspondent in Spain. “There are even some critics of Mbappé, but the Rennes midfielder brings everyone together: fans, press, football professionals … His immense talent, his youth and his exemplary behavior make us think that we are facing a future crack. ” And regarding the comparison with Pogba, Benjamin Idrac concludes. “In France, people don't talk as much about Pogba as they can in Spain. There is little for us during the regular season. It does not have as much weight as Griezmann, to give an example of those who play outside. As for what happens in the field, Camavinga has been seen a little shy in this his first season. I have seen many games for him at the Rennes youth team, and the goal scored by Lyon was very common in their style of play. His coach, Stephane, often says that only 70% of his ability has been seen in attack ”. Over time, therefore, Camavinga will become more and more like Pogba in the field.

Moments that decide a trajectory

April 16, 2019: Debut (as a substitute) against Angers.

He became the youngest player born in 2002 to debut in one of the five major leagues on the continent. Such a record, surpassing even that of Ansu Fati in Barcelona. The Angers It was, by the way, the team against which Dembelé also debuted, also coming from the Rennes youth academy.

May 11, 2019: First tenure against Monaco.

Before the team of Cesc, who recently joked remembering this event: “I came out with one of those saying, I've been great. And when I finished, a scout from an important team came to me and said: ‘Have you seen that 17-year-old boy? ¡It's going to star! ’. And I answered him: ‘Uff … Well, the truth is that I have seen myself so well that I think I have eaten them all,” joked the Spanish international.

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August 18, 2019: Consecration to PSG.

His best match to date. Its explosion in the media. A star was born in Roazhon Park after leading his team to victory. He eclipsed the players of the almighty PSG. He touched perfection with a sublime game: 41 passes completed (97.6% correct and three out of three in the distant displacements), 17 duels won, two shots on goal, three successful entries and one goal assist to Del Castillo with a measured center to complete the comeback (2-1).

November 15, 2019: Debut with Sub 21.

Last December 20 Eduardo Camavinga's official act of nationalization was held in a luxurious hotel in Rennes. The player was accompanied on the spot by his parents and his two younger brothers. The process, which had taken several years, had come to light in October. And it was decisive because it opened a new world to Camavinga. From that moment on, he was able to play for the French team, which was quite an event. But it also allowed Camavinga to be signed by any team outside of France (being a minor) without breaching the FIFA Transfer Statute and, in addition, without occupying a foreigner position (something fundamental, for example, in the case of Madrid).

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The U21 coach, Siylvain Ripoll, did not take long to summon him. He took advantage of a Matuidi loss with the absolute one that made one of his players, Mateo Guendouzzi, I had to go to Deschamps' orders … and he called Camavinga. There were two games ahead, Georgia (November 15) and Switzerland (November 19). He played the first of them, against Geogia, with just turned 17 he debuted with Les Espoirs. And soon it will with the absolute. These were the impressions of the U21 coach, Sylvain Ripoll, from Camavinga's debut, who were picked up by L’Equipe.

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Ripoll, France U21 coach: “CAMAVINGA IS PURE FRESHNESS IN THE FIELD”

How was your integration in the France Espoirs team?

He adapted very easily, Eduardo, he is a breeze of freshness, someone brilliant, very easy in contact with others. It does things very simply and at the same time in an orderly manner. He was also quickly adopted by others. We can consider this to be a successful integration.

How did you find him?

He is someone who has his head on his shoulders, who is not bothered at all by all this (the media riots around him), far from it. He is someone who combines fun and seriousness on the field. We believe that he likes football, is very respectful of the community and is necessarily very important.

What impresses you about him?

Their consistency in their services. Game after game, it shows the same level of performance. I almost mean the same determination linked to the pleasure it produces, the same desire to play. He already gives the impression of being very mature in his choices, in the game, in his ability to control the rhythm of a match, speed up or delay. Talent has no age.

From the generation of 1998 to those born in 2002

The generation of 1998 that conquered the World Cup in France was a turning point for the football of the French country and a warning of what was going to happen from then on: the tendency to see the king of sports from a much more physical perspective. If athletic ability is combined with technique, there is a lot of cattle. That was the teaching. Of the 22 champions, only eight had pure French blood. They were Barthez, Charbonnier, Leboeuf, Blanc, Deschamps, Petit, Dugarry and Guivarch. The rest of the team members were born outside France or descendants of emigrants. The miscegenation reached football. It was, in fact, the triumph of multicultural Europe. In the specific French case, the result of colonialism from the previous century. The president of the Republic, Jacques Chirac, he said then that it was him triumph of a “tricolor and multicolour” France.

“The World Cup has been the triumph of tricolor and multicolour France”

Jacques Chirac

Bernard The MA (of Guyanese origin), Trezeguet (Argentinian), Thuram, Bernard Diomede and Henry (all three of Caribbean origin), Zidane (Algerian), Desailly (Ghanaian), Scallop (mix of Cape Verdean and Senegalese), Candle and Lizarazu (with Italian and Basque country origins), Pires (mix of Portuguese and Spanish), Karembeuau (born in New Caledonia), Alain Boghossian (with Armenian blood) and Djorkaef (with Russian and Mongolian blood)… All of them they made history and they gave the starting pistol …

That great generation of 98 had its continuity. Pogba (Guinea), Clichy (Caribbean), Payet (La Reunion), Nasri and Ben Arfa (North Africa), Mendy (Senegal), Koscielny (Poland), Matuidi (Angola), Mandanda (The Congo), Areola (frank -Philippines), Kinpenbe (Congolese), Kanté (Mali), Umtiti (Cameroonian), Lemar (Caribbean, from Guadalupe), Nzonzi (Congolese descent) and, finally, Mbappé (a mixture of Cameroonian and Algerian) … They They proclaimed themselves world champions. But it seems that the best is yet to come.

Camavinga's generation, that of those born in 2002, is considered the best that has emerged in France in many decades. They are called to dominate soccer. Together with him names appear, especially four, young people who are now only 17 but will soon be stars on their respective teams. Are Lihadji, Aouchiche, Kouassi and Mbuku, described by the AS correspondent in France, Andrés Onrubia (just click on the inside of the image above).

The operation that would take him to Real Madrid

Real Madrid's interest in Camavinga has Rennes in check, a club owned by tycoon François Pinault, now 83, which is the third fortune in France. Pinault has delegated the management of the entity to his son François-Henri Pinault (57 years, married to Salma Hayek). And that's it has instructed that Camavinga is a matter of state. The tycoon does not want his departure to tarnish the best historical classification of Rennes (third place) that will give him access to play the Champions League preview. On the other hand, Pinault does not want to repeat the ridicule that Rennes lived with Dembelé, which was sold to Borussia for 20 million and a year later the Germans sold it to Barça for 140. Camavinga only has a contract until 2022 And this summer Rennes is obliged, in a way, to renew or sell it (if it waited for the summer period of 2021 it would be in a clear disadvantage for the latter).

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All alarms have been triggered at Stade Rennes due to Madrid's interest in the player. But he is not the only one: PSG and Juventus have also been formally interested in him. However, Madrid has already moved tab for Camavinga. There has been a first approach of the white club with the environment of the footballer. The manager has been Juni Calafat, who has more and more weight in the international transfer scene of Real Madrid. It was only a first contact. A poll to find out the situation of the fashionable midfielder. The result of this survey could not have been better. Camavinga has chosen Madrid, as AS has learned, if his departure from Rennes is considered this summer. “Love Zidane and Madrid”, people very close to the midfielder confirm this newspaper.

Camavinga fits perfectly into Madrid's strategy of signing young talent. The only problem is that the interest of the greats of Europe has shot up its price. Predicting the scenario that the white entity will find this summer is difficult, but the intention is to undertake its hiring if it manages to sell the players with whom it does not count, especially three: they are Mariano, Bale and James. Simply with the 54 million that Madrid would save on those three chips it would serve to finance the signing of the Rennes midfielder. A bet for the future proposed by Zidane in the face of Madrid's refusal to bring Pogba to him. He will not have United, but he will have his heir.

The nine key names in the signing by Madrid in images