After a hattrick in the Champions League this week, Real Madrid have a new Brazilian darling in the form of Rodrygo.
The 18-year-old joined in the summer in a €45m deal from Santos and has quickly made an impression, with his hattrick this week taking him to six goals in eight games so far this season.
He may not have ended up at the Bernabeu, though, with Liverpool also interested in him before he ended up going to Spain.
The Reds ultimately never secured the signing as they weren’t willing to pay big and only offering a ‘very low’ amount for him, according to Elano, who was the interim boss at Santos at the time.
It seems that had Liverpool got their way with Rodrygo; however, they would have been offering him a significant wage packet.
According to Defensa Central, a Real Madrid fan website, the youngster is earning around €4m a year, which is around €83,000-a-week.
However, had he gone to Liverpool, he would have been offered ‘almost double’ that, which was also on offer at Paris Saint Germain.
Rodrygo, though, ‘saw the light’ when he was told how much Madrid loved him and decided to go there instead. The money, as far as he was concerned, ‘was no problem’.
But while that is nice, it’s a little hard to believe. Given Liverpool weren’t willing to spend much on him, it seems unlikely they’d have offered him upwards of €100,000-a-week in wages.
It’s even less likely given that amount would put him among the Reds’ highest earners.
Instead, this feels like a Real Madrid fan website finding any way they can to praise the newest darling at the club… and saying he turned down Premier League money is undoubtedly a winner in that regard.
