Augusto Galván was prohibited from playing for more than a year

Real Madrid teenage promise Galván

Real Madrid's new signing Augusto Galván is only 17 years old but among followers of youth football in Brazil, his name has been well known for a number of years.

He was part of the São Paulo side who were crowned champions at Under-15 and Under-17 level, he has been a youth international with Brazil since he was 15 and he is recognized as being one of the Class of '99 - the best young set of players produced by the football mad country in the year before the New Millennium.

São Paulo youth academy

Augusto had trials with almost all of the major clubs in the Brasileirão - and passed them all with flying colours - when he was beginning to get noticed at the football academy run by former Santos player, Glauco in Ribeirão Preto. The teenager impressed in trials with Flamengo, Cruzeiro, Santos... and could have signed for the club of his choice, but aged 12, he chose São Paulo, a club with a prestigious youth academy  which spawned players such as Casemiro, Lucas Moura and Kaká, among others.

Augusto Galván's last game for São Paulo

Soon he was attracting attention from clubs outside Brazil - Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Hamburg and RB Leipzig. But when he had not long turned 16,  AS understands that he became involved in a conflict with São Paulo - effectively becoming persona non grata for not signing a contract renewal with the club. As punishment, the club ostracized him from the team, refusing to let him play for over a year. Augusto Galván's last game for São Paulo was on 25 November 2015, the Paulista Under-17 final.

Professional contract

The club had wanted to hand him a professional contract during his final year as a minor. Augusto and his agent, Daisy Brandino, who also represents Manchester City's Fernandinho, said that both felt “undervalued” by the club and decided against accepting the offer, sources close to the player told AS.

That was the moment when Augusto was left out of the Under-17s in an attempt to pressurise him to accept the conditions on offer. He refused to buckle and continued to train with his team mates at the sports complex in Cotia, but didn't feature in a team list again. 

Bayern also tabled bid for Galván

Globoesporte.com report that São Paulo "cheered" the sale of the player, who would have been able to leave on a free transfer within a matter of weeks. ESPN Brasil claim that Bayern Munich also put in a bid for the teenager but were pipped by Real Madrid.

Augusto Galván turns 18 on 25 March. He was one of the most promising players to have emerged from Brazil in recent years but when he makes his debut appearance for Real Madrid Castilla, he will have gone almost two years without playing competitively.

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