In a stuck pediment to the church of the tiny village of
Navares de Enmedio
in
Segovia
, he hits kicking a ball to 15 years
Jorge de Frutos
(1997), former El
Rayo Majadahonda
, formerly of the
Real Madrid Castilla
and now player of the
Levant
, that shares 50% of its rights with the Madrid team. In the Segovian municipality, which has only
91 inhabitants
according to the latest study by the National Institute of Statistics,
Faustino and María Jesús
, parents of the young forward,
still run their bar
, far from the sporting success of their son and members of that 'empty Spain' that fills the national territory from north to south.
So empty that, a decade ago, the teenager De Frutos had to ask his aunt in Madrid to buy him some football boots and take them to town because the nearest store was an hour away and he had no way to go. His parents, also ranchers and farmers, barely had time for the boy's football wishes. Those
adidas predators
served the youngster to play his first games and begin to attract the attention of the surrounding clubs. El
Cantalejo
,
Sepúlveda
... All quite close to home, until a family friend, in those lucky breaks that footballers need at some point in their life, took him to Madrid to perform several tests on different teams community youth.
"The first year he suffered"
He tried the
Alcorcón
, the
Adarve
... And Rayo Majadahonda selected him, which had
Antonio Iriondo
as a talent recruiter.
"He lacked many principles,
many things in football because he had not played
, but he had speed," the coach tells EL MUNDO.
"He had an
introverted character
and in a football where people live more outwardly, we thought it could be worth it. The first year he suffered because he had some stage fright and he was exhausted quickly, but he was overcoming that psychological part that did not allow him to perform. the following year he was already one of the best of the team ".
De Frutos then left his parents in town, moved to the house of an aunt of his in the
Aluche
neighborhood
and began an express career that in five years has led him to the elite of Spanish football. In between, a lot of work to instill in him the basics of football and to calm an overly fast-paced style of play. "He
lacked pause in the game
and it occurred to me, among the different methods that one can do,
that he should listen to classical music
and realize the space between note and note", details Iriondo, who admits that he does not know if it was the music or something else, but
young Jorge made the leap
.
The Segovian, who was already hallucinating when he saw himself facing Racing Santander in Segunda B, now rubs shoulders with the best footballers in the
League
, sounds more and more for an important transfer and listens, calmly, that
Madrid does not lose him. dress
for your first team.
Today (10:00 pm) he will have in front of the man everyone compares him to:
Lucas Vázquez
.
Another boy who left a small town,
Curtis
, in A Coruña, with almost 4,000 inhabitants, and who jumped to Madrid at the
age of 16
to play in
Valdebebas
.
He grew up in Castilla, like De Frutos, and went on loan to
Espanyol
before convincing the Madrid managers that he had a place next to the best.
"He will win whatever it is but he will still be the boy of the town"
That's what De Frutos tries, one of the
revelations of
last
season
with Levante: four and goals and ten assists in the league.
Before the end of the course, it seemed that there were some options for the white club to recover him, but the good last stretch of the campaign for Lucas made him win a renewal that seemed complicated.
Despite everything, De Frutos sounds throughout
Spain
and Europe.
Getafe, Sevilla and Nice
have been interested in him, but Levante, which would only receive half the money from the transfer, still refuses to part with him and a new contract is being considered.
His clause:
30 million
.
"He's a
very humble guy
and that's why he learns very quickly. One of his main qualities is that he learns a little more every day," explains Iriondo, who has known him since he was a teenager. "He takes great care of himself and has incredible genes. I was glad that he went to Levante because they have a great coach. He has understood him and has given the team depth, he is fast, he goes to spaces and does not ask for the ball at the foot, he works a lot ... And I don't have the data, but it must be one of those who run the most at more than 25 kilometers per hour ".
But, deep down, what most characterizes De Frutos, who supports his lifelong girlfriend, is humility.
"He
will win whatever he is and will continue to be the boy from a town of 100 inhabitants
of Segovia, he is a kid out of the ordinary."
Said and done.
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