Real Madrid: Porto midfielder Romário Baró on Zidane's radar
The 19-year-old box to box midfielder shone as Porto won the UEFA Youth League last season and has attracted the interest of the Bernabéu.
Real Madrid are reportedly eyeing Porto youngster Romário Baró as the Bernabéu board continue their recent policy of identifying the best young talent in Europe to snap up. The 19-year-old Portuguese youth international is a box-to-box midfielder who shone as Porto won last season’s UEFA Youth League with a thumping 5-1 victory over Chelsea in the final capping their run. In that tournament, Baró scored six and provided four assists.
Madrid have been tracking Baró since 2017 since being spotted with Portugal’s under-17 side in a game against Spain in qualifying for the European Championship. However, Porto have been busy tying down their younger stars to fresh contracts with the eyes of Europe on their prolific academy and Baró signed a new deal a year ago with a minimum release clause of 40 million euros. Fabio Silva, who has also been attracting interest from across the continent, has the highest release clause in Portuguese league history at 125 million euros.
Romário Baró: "I try to copy everything Zidane did"
Baró, who made his senior debut this season, is an all-round midfielder who has good tactical awareness and is always on the lookout for an opportunity to hit on the break. He is currently sidelined with an ankle injury sustained in a rough challenge with Santa Clara’s Fabio Cardoso, but is expected to be back in action before too long. He is also a firm fan of Real manager Zinedine Zidane and emulates the Frenchman’s trademark moves in training. “I am always watching videos of him on YouTube. He was an incredible player, I try to copy everything he did, the pirouettes, the shimmies…” Baró said recently.