Real Madrid: who is Hugo Duro, Zidane's dark-horse option in attack?
Added to the Castilla squad on an initial one-year loan from Getafe this summer, Duro has been registered on Real Madrid's Champions League 'A' list.
Goalscorer, Getafe native, engineering student and now a potential European option for Real Madrid head coach Zinedine Zidane. That sums up Hugo Duro, a striker with Los Blancos’ ‘B’ team, Castilla, who has been registered in the 13-time continental kings' ‘A’-list squad for this season’s Champions League.
Snapped up from Getafe on initial season-long loan
“We’ve been keeping a close eye on him since he was at under-17s level,” a club figure told AS when asked about Duro, 20, who until this summer had spent the entirety of his fledgling career at hometown outfit Getafe. Before Madrid came calling, Los Azulones had made plain their awareness of his abundant potential by alternating him between the ‘B’-team and José Bordalás’ first team for three seasons, and last term handing him a three-year, senior contract at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.
However, having identified Duro as the man to lead the line in Raúl’s Castilla side, Madrid went after him with all they had in the close season, reaching an agreement with Getafe that saw him join on an initial year-long loan. The Spanish champions have the option to make the deal permanent at the end of the current campaign.
Covid-19 crisis raises youngsters' prospects of first-team chance
Not only is Duro viewed as a highly promising long-term prospect at Madrid, but the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the transfer market - Los Merengues did not make a single signing this summer - has opened up paths to the first team for players in the youth system. Two members of the Castilla squad, Sergio Arribas and Marvin Park, have already been handed their debuts in LaLiga this season.
Real Madrid youngster Duro a player "like Raúl"
“He’s a bit like Raúl, he’s humble and really hard-working,” say those close to Duro, a youngster who combines football with a university education. The son of an engineer, he’s working towards a degree in mechanical engineering at the Universidad Carlos III in Getafe, remaining firmly dedicated to his studies even after establishing himself as a regular Primera División presence at ‘Geta’ or, for that matter, earning international recognition with Spain Under-21s.
A specialist from the spot, Duro kept his nerve in Macedonia in early September to score a debut penalty that took La Rojita a step closer to the 2021 European Under-21 Championship in Hungary and Slovenia.
Duro to follow in Arribas, Marvin's footsteps?
On 2 July, Getafe visited the Estadio Alfredo di Stéfano, giving Duro a 22-minute run-out as Bordalás' men went down to a 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid. Now, that same stadium is the forward's new home - and it’s a ground where he’ll not only be pulling on the shirt of Castilla, but possibly also that of Madrid.