Real Madrid starlet, nicknamed ‘Xabi Alonso of La Fábrica’, retires at 19 | OneFootball

La Liga giants Real Madrid have this week been dealt a saddening blow on the personnel front.

This comes amid confirmation that youngster Marc Cucalón has been forced to retire from football at the age of just 19.

Midfielder Cucalón was for his part previously considered one of the standout young talents in all of Spanish football.

So highly thought of was the starlet whilst making his way through the youth setup in Madrid, in fact, that he earned for himself the nickname ‘Xabi Alonso of La Fábrica’.

Cucalón’s upward trajectory, however, was brought to a sudden halt back in 2022.

This came upon the midfielder suffering an ACL tear during a UEFA Youth League fixture against Celtic in Glasgow.

As per Relevo, things, from here, took another turn for the worse, as ‘he was attacked by a bacteria that infiltrated the cartilage of the joint and caused an infection’.

And, almost 800 days on, Cucalón is yet to fully recover.

For the best of his health, the Spaniard has therefore come to the no doubt painful decision to hang up his boots, at just 19 years of age.

Conor Laird – GSFN