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Real Madrid scout Juni Calafat has ‘set his sights’ on Watford youngster Joao Pedro after his impressive start to the season.

That’s the highly dubious claim from Defensa Central today, who say the Spanish’s giant’s chief scout is keen on the Brazilian striker.

They explain that Calafat, who is responsible for other Brazilians such as Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Eder Militão arriving at the Bernabeu in recent seasons.

He spends his days at the club ‘analysing young promises’ and the latest to catch his attention is Watford’s Pedro.

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He’s been a regular for Watford this season, starting 11 of their Championship games so far and bagging five goals in total.

That’s been enough to convince Calafat, who has now asked permission from those in charge higher up the club to ‘start conversations with the footballer’s environment’.

Madrid, for their part, are believed to have other targets, but the chief scout has been listened to before, and there is a belief that could happen again with Pedro.

Florentino Pérez and Zinedine Zidane are only thinking of Erling Haaland as a replacement for Karim Benzema but they won’t ‘close doors’ to other young players who are shining.

The big issue is his contract, with Watford having tied him down to a deal until 2025 as they are ‘aware of his potential’ and while the Hornets assume they can’t keep him until then, they don’t plan on giving him away either.

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Instead, they plan to sell to the ‘highest bidder’, with the player’s value, stated to be around €12m at this point, likely to keep rising if he continues to shine in the Championship.

That remains to be seen and, in all honesty, this rumour is extremely dubious at best, particularly as Defensa Central state that Watford are still a Premier League side.

That alone may be a simple mistake, but it suggests they don’t really have a clue about Watford or Pedro’s performances either.

Still, if you happen to see this rumour pick up traction elsewhere over the next month, or even sometime next summer, you know it probably started here.