José María Relucio, ReluHe has lived long to be only 22 years old. Went through Real Madrid, Rayo and Atlético quarries, suffered a failed transfer to Inter Milan and finished in the Trival Valderas de Tercera. But his debut with Alcorcón changed everything. The Borussia Dortmund he had his eye on his subsidiary and there he has reunited with his friend Achraf…
-How was your arrival at Real Madrid?
-I was playing in Toledo and Madrid noticed me in a tournament in Illescas. They took me to Pre-Benjamin, I would be seven years old. I arrived in Valdebebas and I was until Alevín A. That year the club decided not to count on me. I was a forward and I was delayed to the midfielder, until that year my coach (Iñaki Beni) who sent me to the left side. I played without being my position and still went with the Madrid Under-12 team and was runner-up in Spain alongside Achraf, the Obama brothers … I never explained it to myself, but Madrid decided to rescind me. I was not expecting it and I was shocked. I had to find my life and I went to Rayo. Even so, my time in Madrid was very beautiful, I was also with Luca Zidane, Óscar Rodríguez …
-Almost from the Trival Valderas to Borussia …
-It was not easy. I came from playing in Atlético’s Junior Honor Division and even trained under Simeone. The thing is, he was going to sign for Inter Milan. But due to paper problems, I couldn’t play the Youth League and in the Spring they could only have three players my age, so the signing fell apart … Alavés signed me for two years but it was so late that all the chips were Complete and they had to give me, that’s why I ended up in the Trival. In three months I went from playing the final of the Copa del Rey Juvenil to training with Zaniolo in Milan … to finishing in La Canaleja de Alcorcón. It was very hard. I had to put myself in the hands of a sports psychologist.
“I went from almost signing for Inter to being in the Trival, in Third. It was very hard. I needed a sports psychologist …”
Relu, footballer for Borussia Dortmund.
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– and how it appears in the radar of a club of the dimensions of the Borussia?
-The Borussia scouts went to see Achraf a lot when he was in Madrid and on the way they saw more footballers. I share a representative with him and they showed them my profile. They came to see me and they liked me. When I debuted with Alcorcón in Segunda they decided.
-And in Germany your friend Achraf is waiting for you …
-More than friends, we are brothers. We have experienced many things together. In the end life has brought us to be very close again.
Achraf and Relu, with the Madrid team.
– In which position is the best Achraf seen? He plays in so many positions that it is almost impossible to define him. Because it started in Factory forward …
-Like me, we played together up front. He is a guy that you put where you put him is going to yield because he is crushed. He is not one of those who is thinking ‘but why do they put me in this position now?’ When he goes out on the field, he plays. Anywhere. Despite everything, I think that his position, for me, is right-back. It is more the ideal is like lane by that band. There it is spectacular. It has a speed that I have not seen anyone in football …
-As you neglect, it tears off the stickers …
-It is a plane. He is one of those players who is essential in an eleven. Achraf is one of those players who send him a ball in depth and breaks your rival lines. He reaches the bottom line and puts centers, gives assists and puts goals on top. Everything at a speed that defines you.
-A lot of Real Madrid fans had a bittersweet taste for that one season of the Moroccan in the first team. What happened?
-Achraf has had a complicated life and has had to fight from a very young age for his dream. He has passed through the entire Madrid academy. But it is not easy to assimilate suddenly that you are at the top of the best club in the world with Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo, with Zidane as coach and Carvajal in his position. There was pressure. That is why the loan to Borussia came in spectacular. He has matured a great deal both psychologically and footballically. He has become a man. If people knew him better he would be surprised for good. He has everything very well structured in his head, he is a very, very smart guy.
“In Dortmund I did the preseason with the first team and I was called up, but an injury of two and a half months came …” “
Relu, footballer for Borussia Dortmund.
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– Now it is done for Madrid?
-Without a doubt. He is one of the best wingers in the world and will end up being the best. That match he made against Barça, or those two goals he scored against Inter in the Champions League … He is a unique player.
“What can you tell me about Haaland?”
-When I was in Salzburg I started to follow him and when I got here he didn’t come as if he were just another transfer. It came hitting big, even before playing. People here really wanted to see it. The fact is that Paco Alcácer also had a spectacular start here. Haaland? I like it, but it’s very young. I think you have to do more. He must keep scoring goals because he is pure power, a destructive battering ram, but he still has left.
-And Jadon Sancho? It seems that Borussia’s list of young talents never ends.
-It’s tremendous. How it is associated, its technique is incredible. I love. Haaland puts everything in the area, but Sancho is special, he draws your attention. For example, when I was in the Juvenil del Atleti I played against Monaco in Switzerland and opposite was Mbappé. I didn’t notice him that day. I think it exploded later.
–Relu, in action with the Borussia Dortmund subsidiary.
-How was the first year in Dortmund? He has had everything …
-It has been a strange year, because you have to adapt to the country and the club. Not only the first team, when you train with them, but also the affiliate, which is where you play. I arrived at Borussia very well, I came from playing in the Spanish Second, I did the preseason with the first team and I got to be called up, but just on September 1 I injured my knee, an edema that has me two and a half months away. From there it was very difficult to enter the team. The coach already had an eleven and is not very supportive of the Spanish style. The injury marked a before and after. I do not want to apologize because I am happy where I am, it is an impressive club.
– Will it continue yellow or will we see you again soon in Spain?
-I have a contract, but what is clear to me is that I want to play, I want to enjoy soccer. This year I have learned a lot and in many situations, but next season I have to play a lot. If it is not here it will have to be another site. The coronavirus has left everything in a secondary plane, it is normal, but I need to play …
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