Teenage midfield prodigy reacts to Barcelona, Real Madrid rumours – ‘Made me proud’ | OneFootball

While FC Barcelona pride themselves on producing stars through La Masia, their scouts are also alert to promising players abroad to further strengthen their youth and senior ranks.

Just like they are set to send scouts to watch young talents at the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup, Barcelona also had eyes on the UEFA U-19 European Championships earlier this year.

The Netherlands went on to win the competition, beating Spain 1-0 in the finals, with a certain Kees Smit emerging as the standout player of the tournament.

Smit responds to Barcelona, Real Madrid links

Smit’s performances at the Euros and his breakthrough at Dutch club AZ Alkmaar led to him being linked with some of the biggest clubs across Europe.

Real Madrid, for one, have shown concrete interest in the 19-year-old midfielder, while there has been reported interest from Barcelona as well.

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The rumours managed to catch the eye of the young midfield prodigy, who discussed the same, along with his performances at the U-19 Euros, saying:

“I played reasonably well, I think. I did well, I scored a lot of goals. That definitely helped attract attention. I did see my name popping up a lot on social media back then,” Smit said, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo.

“I was supposed to be in the sights of Real Madrid and Barcelona. That made me proud,” he added.

Smit finished as both top scorer and best player at the U-19 Euros, netting four goals – against Germany, Norway, England and Romania – and providing an assist vs the latter.

While he may have stayed put at AZ this summer, a big move could be on the horizon for the teenage midfield prodigy in the near future.