He had a trial with Real Madrid when he was 10 years old. There were training camps at the regional level, one of them in Großkrotzenburg in the Aschaffenburg region.
From there he progressed to the next round, which was in Memmingen. He prevailed there again and was then invited to Real Madrid and allowed to play in the Bernabéu.
As you know, the deal with Real Madrid didn’t work out back then. The father later told me that he was very glad about it because he felt it wasn’t really about his son – but rather about negotiating contracts for big player agencies.
That’s why it fell through, and looking back, the family certainly doesn’t regret it.