End of August 2022. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, among others, are waging a great war behind the scenes for Iker Bravo. Well known to Spanish football fans as one of the country’s biggest talents, the young striker, only 17 years old, had already started with the Bayer Leverkusen first team, where he had landed only a year earlier. It was with Barça that he had trained, and the Catalans wanted to repatriate him. Without success therefore, since the Merengues were favored by the player, loaned for a season and integrated into the Real Madrid Castilla squad. An arrival which had raised a lot of hopes in the Spanish capital, and many were convinced that we would not wait long to see him start with the first team.
However, the U19 international’s first season in Madrid was a little complicated. He only scored 2 goals in 22 games with Real Madrid Castilla, although it is true that when he came down to lend a hand to the U19s in the Youth League, he performed well, with 3 goals and 3 assists in 4 matches. But this is not the level we expected from a player who had already started in the Bundesliga at the age of only 16. Above all, there were the first somewhat worrying echoes in the Spanish press concerning his behavior and attitude. This season, he therefore had things to prove, especially since the Madrid leaders offered him a second chance by extending his loan for one season.
Disappointment after disappointment
But it’s gone badly. Already, he has been relegated to the U19 squad, under the orders of Alvaro Arbeloa, since Raul Gonzalez, Castilla coach, does not want to hear about him. After a few promising first matches, he fell back into his old ways. Last weekend, he was sent off in the 49th minute after a violent gesture and protests to the referee. His second expulsion of the season, which is unusual for an offensive player, when he had already been sent off during the match at the end of September after another very dangerous tackle on an opponent. Arbeloa had also punished him by leaving him on the bench for several matches, and it was this weekend that he returned to the eleven, being sent off as soon as he returned. Even when he played, he was quite far from the expected level.
After being blacklisted with Castilla, the club’s B team, he is now also burned with the U19s. Very far from the expectations that many had for a player who should have, potentially, entered the dynamic of the A team as Nico Paz did for example. Relevo goes so far as to affirm that the leaders of Real Madrid plan to end his loan in January. Even if it means having to compensate Bayer Leverkusen. This shows to what extent there is no longer any hope for the player… If he still has other European clubs ready to welcome him – always according to Relevo – he has a month and a half to change the minds of the thinking heads at Real Madrid…
