Federico Valverde’s Arsenal trial in 2015: ‘Spectacular Arteta’ and why he ended up at Real Madrid

Federico Valverde will line up in Real Madrid’s Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday as one of their most important players — but he could easily have been playing for Arsenal against the Spanish giants in that match at the Emirates Stadium.

The Uruguay midfielder has evolved into an outstanding footballer, playing 306 times for Madrid and winning 14 trophies (including two Champions League titles) since joining them in 2016, at age 18, from Penarol in his homeland for an initial €5million (£4.3m/$5.5m at current exchange rates), which increased by €4m from achievable bonuses. He made his debut in 2018 and has not looked back since.

Before making that move, which was agreed in 2015, Valverde had spent time on trial at Arsenal, and the Premier League side were keen to sign him, to the extent that they sent a club representative to Uruguay’s capital Montevideo to try to seal a deal. But it wasn’t long before Madrid swooped — and the rest is history.

Here, we tell the story of a young Valverde’s trial with the north Londoners and how Madrid beat them to the signature of a player who has gone on to become one of the best in the world…

It all started in 2014, with Francis Cagigao, who spent 23 years at Arsenal first as a part-time scout and later as head of international scouting, and Jonathan Vidalle, Arsenal’s lead scout for South, Central and North America.

Watching footage of an under-16s match between Uruguay and Argentina, one of the Uruguayan midfielders stood out. He reminded them of Steven Gerrard. He was known as El Parajito (The Birdie) but his name was Federico Valverde. 

El Parajito has since graduated to being called El Halcon (The Falcon) but even as a young teenager, from their scouting Arsenal thought Valverde had the makings of an elite box-to-box midfielder. He possessed a great shot, a good passing range, intelligence on the ball and the capacity to make high-intensity runs again and again. He had good technique and was quick for his age and position.

Arsenal spoke to his agent and invited the then 16-year-old over for a one-week trial. His club Penarol agreed and an insurance agreement was in place to allow him to make the trip.

Valverde arrived in early January 2015 with his brother Pablo and a representative from Penarol, Pablo Torres. England — and the -4C  (25F) temperature — was a big shock to the Valverdes. There was snow everywhere whereas back home in Uruguay, which is in the southern hemisphere, it was summer, but the teenager was very excited by the opportunity and his upcoming trial.

“I was 16 and it was something that I said, ‘That’s it. This is my club, where I’m going to grow’,” Valverde told Spanish TV station Movistar as part of its long-running football interview series Universo Valdano in 2024.

“It was very nice to arrive at Arsenal’s sports complex and see all the pitches with ‘pastito’ (grass), see the clothes they had for training… it was another world and you said, ‘Buaaah, this is the football you want coming from South America’,” said Valverde in that interview. He also spoke about Uruguay’s love of the Premier League, and how he found it strange that by 3pm, it felt like night in London because it gets so dark so early at that time of year. 

Torres was one of the senior figures at the Penarol academy during Valverde’s time there. Rodolfo Catino, who is now secretary general of Penarol and was president of their academy at the time, tells The Athletic: “I chose Pablo Torres to travel with Fede because he understood English perfectly and I asked him to keep his ear to the ground and not show that he spoke English perfectly. He kept me informed of everything.”

In his week with Arsenal, Valverde was supported by other Spanish-speaking players, including Emiliano Martinez (now at Aston Villa), Hector Bellerin (Real Betis), Alexis Sanchez (Udinese), Santi Cazorla (Real Oviedo, still going at 40) and the club captain, a certain Mikel Arteta (now their first-team manager). As well as keeping him company and making him feel at home, they explained the training exercises, because he didn’t understand English.

“The captain was Mikel Arteta, who spoke perfect Spanish and was spectacular with us,” Torres tells The Athletic. “He introduced himself to us and made himself entirely available to us. A spectacular person.”

“Tucking in the youngsters who were arriving (on trials or as new signings) is logical, it’s nothing extraordinary,” Bellerin tells The Athletic. “I could put myself in his shoes, because I arrived at Arsenal when I was almost a kid (leaving Barcelona’s academy at age 16) and I know what it’s like to have team-mates who support you. I didn’t get to see him in action much, but he seemed to be a kid with ability and, above all, with clear ideas. I’m delighted with everything he’s achieving.”

Arsenal’s plan for Valverde that week was designed to test the player in different contexts. He trained with different age groups, including spending considerable time with Arsene Wenger’s first team.

Valverde felt good about how it had gone and, at the end of the week, Torres said Wenger made it clear to the youngster that Arsenal wanted him. “He asked Fede if he would like to play for him and for Arsenal, and Fede said yes,” says Torres.

Torres says that Cagigao offered to get Valverde an Arsenal shirt with the name of any player he wanted on the back, and to ask which players he wanted to sign it. “Fede said, ‘No, no, put Valverde on mine.’ Francis (Cagigao) gave it to him on Saturday before we left.

“It’s the only Arsenal shirt with Fede’s name on it that exists!”

A technical decision was made by Wenger and Cagigao to sign the player. Arsenal would make Penarol an offer, with the player being informed. The idea was for Cagigao to travel to Uruguay to close the deal, but because of unavoidable first-team commitments, it was Dick Law, Arsenal’s transfer negotiator between 2009 and 2018, who went instead.

Arsenal were confident they were the only club pursuing a deal for Valverde, which did not prevent Law from encountering unexpected difficulties.

“At Arsenal, we’d sometimes joke that, ‘Real Madrid would buy anything Cagigao scouted’,” Law tells The Athletic. “Valverde and his family were wonderful people.”

Penarol’s asking price was €6million. “For a non-first team player that seemed a little steep, but we were talking to them,” Law says. During negotiations, Arsenal began to think Madrid were also interested, but the player’s camp claimed the English side were his first choice and that he wanted to join them.

Law highlights the key obstacle for Arsenal.

“The fundamental problem with our proposal was that we couldn’t bring Valverde directly to Arsenal,” he says. “He was a non-EU national and didn’t have enough international points to qualify for a work permit.

“Our proposal to the family was that we would find a club, usually in Spain, where he could develop. We had done that in the past with success (Carlos Vela, among others). So he would become an Arsenal player, but go on loan to a Spanish club. That wasn’t as immediately attractive as immediately becoming a Real Madrid player.”

Arsenal made an offer for Valverde but it was rejected by Penarol as it did not meet their asking price. It became apparent that Penarol were open to waiting for the South American Under-17 Championship in March 2015 and courting interest in Valverde that would then arise from other clubs.

Valverde makes a challenge in the 2015 South American Under-17 Championship (Norberto Duarte/AFP via Getty Images)

During that tournament, Madrid’s interest, driven by chief scout Juni Calafat, accelerated. Valverde got seven goals for Uruguay, who finished top of their initial group but struggled in the second group stage. Brazil, led by a striker called Leandrinho, the top scorer in the tournament with eight goals, were crowned champions. 

Calafat met Valverde and his family at Uruguay’s team hotel.

A man who knows what he is doing when it comes to persuading young players to join Madrid, Calafat has since also secured the signings of Martin Odegaard, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, Brahim Diaz, Eduardo Camavinga, Endrick, Jude Bellingham and Arda Guler.

Calafat presented Valverde with a very detailed project, one that would support him professionally and personally. He spoke about the positions he thought Valverde could excel in for Madrid and the level of care available at the club’s training centre at Valdebebas. He also focused on the environment for the player and his family, who he would support in their move to Spain. 

Valverde’s mother later said in an interview with Madrid’s in-house media that her son had dreamt of playing for a club where the stands were packed with fans wearing white shirts. She says the first time it happened, he didn’t know who it was. But when the dream was recurring, he realised it was Madrid. “His dream weighed in his decision,” she said.

Madrid paid an initial €5million to secure Valverde’s signature, and he joined them in 2016, after turning 18 in the July. The fee rose to €9m when he met several performance-related triggers, which included making his debut for the club’s first team and representing Uruguay at senior level.

In the end, Madrid ended up loaning Valverde out too — just as Arsenal had planned to.

He started with their reserve team, Castilla, for the 2016-17 season and then spent the following one playing in La Liga for Deportivo La Coruna, based 600km (just under 400 miles) from the capital in north-west Spain.

When he returned to Madrid, head coach Julen Lopetegui gave him an opportunity in the first team, but Valverde initially found it hard to make his mark in a squad packed with superstars. He was hungry to improve and waited patiently.

In front of him in his favoured position was perhaps the greatest midfield in Madrid’s history — Casemiro, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. Valverde was used as a ‘false’ right-winger while that trio moved beyond their prime years.

Casemiro and Kroos have since left, while Modric is still at the club. Valverde accepted his role and it was from that position on the right that he delivered the low, driven ball which Vinicius Jr converted to win the Champions League final against Liverpool in 2022.

A few months later, Kroos described the young Uruguayan as one of the top three players in the world.

When Madrid won the Champions League again last June, Valverde played as a central midfielder. Some joke that this year, he could complete a personal hat-trick of winning the trophy in a third position as he covers at right-back because of Dani Carvajal’s season-ending knee injury and Lucas Vazquez’s fluctuating form. 

(Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

At the end of last season, some on the coaching staff described Valverde as “the most important player in the squad”.

The fee Madrid paid for the teenager has proven a steal, as he has been incredible value for money. His name is sung during every game at the Bernabeu and he will be vital — wherever he plays — if Carlo Ancelotti’s side are to knock out the club he looked like joining a decade ago and progress to the semi-finals.

(Top photo: Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)