Revealed! The Real Madrid ‘chump’ keeping Marcelo out of the team

From ‘simpleton’ to Real Madrid star, Sergio Reguilon’s journey has taken even his friends by surprise. The left-back began the season as an obscure addition from the B team but has ousted the legendary Marcelo and is poised to start against Barcelona in the Clasico Copa semi-final on Wednesday. “When he arrived we laughed at him because he seemed like a bit of a simpleton,” one of Reguilon’s former team-mates at UD Logrones told Marca. “Now he sends us boots and tickets, after displacing the best left-back of the last decade.”Reguilon, 22, establishing himself as an important figure seemed unthinkable at the start of the summer, but a lot has happened since then.

This astonishing rise feels like a fantasy for a boy who grew up supporting Real Madrid. Regui, as his friends call him, played through every level at La Fabrica – Los Blancos’ youth system – always with his sights set on the first team. However, failing to break into the Madrid Castilla line-up in 2015, he was loaned to third division side Logrones for a few months, returning there for the 2016-17 campaign where he found his footing.

Upon returning to Madrid he became a key pick for then B-team coach Santiago Solari, playing 30 times and captaining the side on 11 occasions. That form saw him rewarded with a professional contract in May 2018. “It’s been a privilege to defend this badge since I was eight years old,” wrote Reguilon on Instagram. “And now I’m proud to belong to the best club in the world for the next few years.” As with many younger players, that social networking site is a source of gold.

“One of the happiest days of my life,” wrote a young Reguilon under a picture of himself posing for a snap with Gareth Bale back in March 2014. Swiping down a few years, his profile looks more like one of a young fan who, hanging around Valdebebas, had managed to snap a few pictures with some first team stars. But that is basically what he was. When they won the Champions League in 2014 he posted a photo of himself wearing a replica shirt, holding a scarf, cheering the team on from the stands. Over the years his haircuts have improved, and now he is in the pictures playing alongside his idols instead of just dreaming about it.

After left-backs like Roberto Carlos and Marcelo, Reguilon doesn’t seem to fit the profile, but relentlessly attacking players are not what Madrid need at the back right now. He’s never been one to fit the mould anyway.“Instead of giving us coffee, yoghurts and biscuits like everyone else, Sergio gave us good ham, prawns and a bit of wine. A gourmet – maybe that’s why he’s now at Madrid and the rest of us are in Segunda B,” joked another former Logrones team-mate. Reguilon offers Madrid stability, grit and energy, helping balance a side that too frequently looks vulnerable with Marcelo in the back-line. By no means an outstanding natural talent, it is desire and determination that have taken Reguilon to where he is, as well as a ceaseless desire to learn.