Player Profile: Real Madrid’s Fernando Gago
Argentinean midfielder, Fernando Gago, was one of the many home grown players of Boca Juniors, having climbed out of the youth division. The player made his first team debut for the Juniors in 2004, when Boca won 1-0 against Quilmes. At that time, Gago was only 18 but still he managed to find his place in the Boca’s midfield, attracting attention from Spanish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
On 15th November 2006, Real Madrid President issued a statement regarding the signings of Gago and Gonzalo Higuain, in an attempt to replace older stars with young blood. However, Higuain’s departure to Madrid was announced prematurely, as his former club, River Plate, had rejected a 10 million Euro offer for the player, making him stay with the club until June 2007.
For Gago, there was a huge transfer saga, with the player constantly linked to Milan. But, the transfer agent for Milan stated that both Higuain and Gago only wanted to play for Real Madrid. Real reportedly paid 20.4 million pounds for Gago in Dec 2006. Since then, he has featured in the defensive midfield position and has been compared with former Argentinean legend, Fernando Rodendo. Gago made his much awaited Real Madrid debut in their 2-0 loss to Deportivo La Coruna in January 2007. He was extremely impressive in the midfield but owing to Real’s poor performance, the player was unable to showcase his true talents on the pitch.
However, Gago made an error, whereby, breaking from the defensive wall at a free kick, leading to the opening goal. He was therefore replaced by Ronaldo. A week later, Gago produced a magnificent performance against Real Zaragoza on the home ground. His performance was exemplary that lifted the team’s spirit. Finally, the team won the match 1-0 with former Manchester United man Ruud Van Nistelrooy scoring the lone goal.
In their fourth last match of the season, Madrid were level in terms with Recreativo Huelva at 2-2 and a draw would have resulted in Barcelona FC taking the lead back in La Liga but Gago’s last minute assist led Roberto Carlos score the deciding goal of the match; that goal perhaps gifted the league title to Real Madrid.
At the start of 2007-08 season, Gago replaced his number 16 shirt with the 8th. This was his second season with Real Madrid and he displayed quality and decisiveness on the midfield. With a series of master class performances, Gago played an important role in the successful defense of Madrid’s La Liga title. His performances also led him to take the position of Mahamadou Diarra in the first team.
But, Gago had almost joined the Premier league side, Manchester City during the next transfer window. Personal terms between the club and player had been agreed but a 15 million pound deal couldn’t be confirmed between the two clubs. During the 2008-09 season, Gago could only manage 2 games in the opening season. He picked up an injury while playing against Bate Borisov in the UEFA Champions league but made a quick recovery and managed to start the 27 October game against Athletic Bilbao.
Real Madrid managed to win the bout 3-2 and Gago was praised for his performance by then Madrid’s number 10, Wesley Sneijder. In the same season, Gago also scored his first goal for Real Madrid. Gago got his favored number 5 jersey, following the departure of Fabio Cannavaro, while the number 8 shirt is now worn by Kaka.
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