We are witnessing an era of football where more and more up-and-coming youngsters are showing how much potential they have and are becoming main features for some of the biggest teams in world football at mind-bogglingly young ages.
Players like Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, Chelsea's Estevao, and PSG's Desire Doue are just a few examples of some of the best young players who are taking over football, almost ditching the "up and coming" moniker and are just known as some of the best players in the world.
Another youngster who is quickly establishing himself as one of the most exciting players this season is Bayern Munich's Lennart Karl. The 17-year-old has become a sensation for the Bundesliga side, becoming the youngest player ever to score in three consecutive Champions League games.
Karl's dribbling and catalog of goals he's scored this season is incredible for someone as young 17-years-old and it seems as though Bayern Munich have a gem of a player on their hands who could be at their club for decades. What many don't know, however, is that Real Madrid almost landed Karl when he was 10 years old, but sadly for Los Blancos, it didn't happen.
Real Madrid now look silly for letting this world beater join Bayern Munich
As reported by AS, Lennart Karl's career path could've taken a very different trajectory, with Real identifying his talents and inviting him to a tryout when he was only 10 years old, and he very nearly joined the club, but unfortunately, it ended up falling through in the end.
According to German journalist Sebastian Leisgang, Karl was extremely close to joining Los Blancos but ultimately nothing came to fruition.
"He had a trial with Real Madrid when he was 10. There were regional trials in Germany, one of them in Großkrotzenburg, in the Aschaffenburg region. From there, he advanced to the next round, which was held in Memmingen. There, he was successful again and was invited to Madrid and allowed to play at the venerable Bernabeu."
The report went on to say that the family was very happy with how the whole experience went but things ultimately fell through when it came to the contract negotiations and he ended up joining Bayern where he seems to have found a home for years and years to come.
In hindsight, missing out on Karl could come to bite Real Madrid in the bottom. The club has had a rocky time in recent years with youngsters, and for most clubs, having a talented homegrown youngster is the pride of the club, but for Real Madrid, that pride has been hurt in recent times.