José Mourinho calls 16-year-old Real Madrid sensation up for first ever senior training session | OneFootball

An up-and-coming member of the midfield ranks at La Liga giants Real Madrid was a surprise inclusion in first-team training on Monday.

Los Blancos, for those not aware, got their preparations for the new campaign up and running earlier today.

With the José Mourinho era now in full effect in Spain’s capital, the club’s senior players not called upon for international duty at the World Cup were summoned to Valdebebas for pre-season training.

Alongside the likes of Dean Huijsen, Eduardo Camavinga and Trent Alexander-Arnold, though, were a host of academy talents, too.

Short on numbers for the session, Mourinho and his staff drafted in some of the most highly-regarded youngsters currently making their way through La Fábrica.

And the most surprising call of the day came in the form of that afforded to Cherif Fofana.

Fofana, for his part, is a 16-year-old defensive midfielder, who spent last season plying his trade on the books of Real Madrid U17s.

On Monday, though, the Spaniard was called up to train on the senior stage for the very first time, rewarded by the club’s new headmaster for his efforts at youth level.

Conor Laird – GSFN