Messi Has Another Excellent Teammate! But Why Did the Younger Redondo Choose MLS over Europe?

He's called a Busquets copy.

On Tuesday, Fabrizio Romano was stunned: practically 100% confirmed the transfer of Federico Redondo, but not to Europe, where the window is already closed, but to the USA - to Inter Miami! One of Argentina's leading talents, who talked about the dream of playing for Real a year ago, is suddenly going there. Suddenly, Madrid also showed an active interest in them in the fall.

Federico Redondo: "I have always been a fan of Real. I dream of playing here someday."

So far, there has been no official announcement, perhaps because of the club's FFP problems, as reported by The Athletic. According to the publication, the transfer amount will be € 8 million, and the club will receive an additional 15% from further resale.

Like father, like son

Federico Redondo was born into a genuinely footballing family. His father, Fernando, won two Champions League titles and played for Real in the 90s. Santiago Solari, his uncle, also played there in the 2000s. His brother played for the Argentine Tigre, his grandfather played for Newell's Old Boys, and his cousin left Celta in the summer for Mexican Atlas.

In an interview with the Argentine portal Tiempo, Federico talked about what it means to live in such a family: constant discussion of football at the table, endless viewings of La Liga and European tournaments on TV. And although his father did not force him to follow in his footsteps, he decided. He not only decided but started with the same club. At nine, he entered the Argentinos Juniors academy and plays in the same position as a midfielder.

Federico Redondo: "Players who pass through the club have the stamp of Argentinos. In childhood, you only want to be good at handling the ball. That's what the club is trying to instill. My attachment is strengthened because my father played in the Argentino youth teams."

Redondo Jr. inherited not only the position from his father but also the subtleties of the game: constant scanning of the field and understanding where to pass the ball even before receiving it. Federico's identity lies in the fantastic combination of physicality and experience of the game. He is broad-shouldered, tall, and muscular, not just running around but also understanding the game positionally. At the same time, in the same Tiempo interview, the guy talked about how he intuitively makes most decisions in microepisodes because you can't think in such situations - you will be robbed.

This combination of qualities brought success and rapid progress in the position of a midfielder. Even before his debut for the Argentinos first team in July 2022, he began to be called up to the under-20 national squad by Javier Mascherano, and, according to Fede, only then did he first understand positional play. In his debut matches in adult football, Redondo showed all his best qualities and, after a month, often appeared in the starting lineup.

A copy of Sergio Busquets and Europe's interest

A critical stage in the talent's career was the U-20 World Cup in May last year. Federico was the second option in his position and initially looked less preferable than Maximiliano Perrone. But after Redondo came on as a substitute and showed himself in the first two matches, Mascherano started him in the remaining games.

This tournament showed Redondo to scouts and, in fact, predetermined the interest of European clubs despite the fact that Argentina did not even reach the 1/8 finals stage. The prudence, maturity, and subtlety of the game with which Fede acted time after time allowed him to get out of pressure and break the press. The entire game of the talented midfielder can be described in one word - "search": first, he finds his best position to receive, then finds the right moment and zone to continue the attack. Redondo is not so much a destroyer as a player on the ball.

Therefore, shortly after the World Cup, comparisons with Sergio Busquets began to pour in when the masses paid attention to the Argentine. Let Federico not be as graceful and have absolutely different physical characteristics, but he acts similarly.

Perhaps the Argentine has just arrived in the USA to learn the subtleties and gain wisdom from the legend of Barcelona. Before Inter Miami, Beckham was especially closely associated with Bayern and Wolfsburg, and Bild even wrote about Bayern. It's unlikely that such clubs would refuse just for the sake of America and Messi?

Published by Patrick Jane
19.02.2024