Luca Zidane is one player that will struggle to emulate the achievements of his father Zinedine, but his performances for Real Madrid Castilla, the Spanish giants’ B team, have helped him to become the future at the club.
The 19-year-old goalkeeper has three brothers, all who have played for the 12-time European champions at youth level, with the eldest Enzo leaving the capital for pastures new and more game time at Deportivo Alaves this summer.
Then there is his dad Zinedine, a World Cup and European Championship winner with France and World Player of the Year on three occasions.
As a manager, he became Real Madrid boss in 2016, despite his only previous experience being with their youth teams. Yet, he has already won two Champions League titles and the La Liga.
Young Zidane on the rise
Despite having the pressure of being at one of the biggest clubs in the world where your father is the manager, Luca has flourished in the youth groups, so much so that he is being seen as the best of Zinedine’s sons, albeit with siblings Theo and Elyaz still too young to have much impact.
An agile yet stocky shot stopper, who is not afraid to play as a sweeper-keeper and wander up the pitch and clear the ball away before it gets near to his penalty area. Eight appearances for Castilla last season were enough to see him become their number one for the upcoming campaign, while he has featured on the bench for the first-team in pre-season.
Luca also kept two clean sheets in three matches for France under-19s during the 2017 European Championships qualifying, but, like his brothers, he aslo has the option to play for Spain and Algeria at senior level.
Will he get a chance at Real Madrid?
While Luca is going about his business, commanding his box and providing his defenders protection and a cool head, the Los Blancos have been searching for a world-class goalkeeper since the demise of club legend Iker Casillas.
Among those linked with a move to the Santiago Bernabeu outfit is Spaniard David de Gea of Manchester United, and although current number one Keylor Navas looking likely to keep hold of the jersey for the forthcoming season, Real Madrid will try to sign him again next summer.
Yet, any move would cost a considerable amount of money and only hinder the progression of Luca.
The young Zidane has been impressing and would be expected to make the step up to the first-team in the next couple of years, but should the club sign a world-class shot-stopper then he may have to move to get his chance and based on his displays, there will be no shortage of admirers.
Here are some highlights of Luca in action:
