Real Madrid's Brazilian spending spree
Fluminense striker Pedro is the latest target for the Santiago Bernabeu outfit with Madrid having signed nine Brazilian players since 2013.
It's no secret that Real Madrid has a special interest in Brazilian talent with the latest player to generate speculation in a Bernabeu signing being Fluminense forward Pedro Guilherme, who appears set to move to the Spanish capital for a fee of 20-25 million euro. Casemiro's acquisition in 2013 was the first in a wave of "Carioca" talent and the club recruiting Brazilian Juni Calafat as an international scout has been fundamental in the club spending more than 105 million euro is the past five years.
Ramón Martínez brought Casemiro to Europe in 2013 following impressive displays in the Sao Paulo midfield and the move also was supported by José Mourinho with the coach monitoring the player's development since 2011.
In January 2014, Juni Calafat was named as chief head scout for the club with both Willian José (now with Real Sociedad) and Pablo Teixeira (who only managed 63 minutes in a white shirt before an injury thwarted his time in Spain) being early acquisitions.
The fourth Brazilian to move to Madrid was Abner with the left back moving from Coritiba at the age of 18. Serious knee problems curtailed his time at the club and he was later sent on loan to Estoril in Portugal and is currently back with Coritiba in Brazil's Serie A.
Calafat was anxious in bringing Lucas Silva to the Bernabeu and the move from Cruziero costing the Bernabeu side 13 million euro. His time at the club was also short lived as he failed to convince Ancelotti. Loan deals ensured with the midfielder back at Cruzeiro despite still being officially a Real Madrid player.
The club moved to secure a Brazilian based scout and enlisted the services of former Manchester United talent spotter, Paulo Henrique Xavier. Since 2017 he has been responsible for the acquisition of Augusto (currently with RM Castilla who cost 3 million), Vinicius (who moved from Flamengo for a fee of 45 million euro), Rodrigo Rodrigues (another Castilla based player and a 3 million signing) and also Rodrygo who will move to Madrid from Santos in 2019 in exchange for 40 million euro
Nine Brazilian stars in exchange for 105 million euro in the past five years with everything pointing to Pedro Guilherme to join the 'Carioca' ranks at the Bernabeu.
