Cristo: The Cristiano Ronaldo of Castilla who said no to Barcelona

Having been included in the squad to play Melilla, Real Madrid Castilla forward Cristo Gonzalez could make his debut at the Santiago Bernabeu, though he easily could have done so at the Camp Nou but instead he opted to reject the Catalan side in favour of Los Blancos.

For now, the Tenerife-born attacker has become the Cristiano Ronaldo of Castilla as he is the top scorer with six goals and has four in his past five games; he is on seven goals overall if you include his goal with the first team in a substitute appearance against Melilla in the first leg.

In the Castilla side, where he was first under the tutelage of Santiago Solari and now Manolo Diaz, Cristo has been playing as an out-and-out No. 9, though he can play across any of the attacking positions and at 21 years of age, he has a surprising level of experience after debuting with Tenerife as a 16-year-old.

It was one-and-a-half years ago that Madrid won the battle to secure Cristo, beating Barcelona and Sevilla, and it is notable that at Barcelona he would have been able to play in the Segunda Division for their B team, yet he still chose Los Merengues, whose Castilla team plays in the Segunda B.

Madrid paid 750,000 euros as an upfront cost, in addition to variables which have already caused the figure to surpass 1 million; he is continuing to grow and develop as a player at Castilla, and he knows there will be opportunities in the first team under Solari, too.

After a slow start last season, Cristo scored 10 goals in the second half of the season and while he had the option to leave in the summer, he decided to stay.

Surrounded by his family, he is determined to reach the first team at Valdebebas and if he continues his good form with Castilla, in addition to impressing in his limited opportunities under Solari, it will not be long until the 21-year-old is a member of the Madrid first team squad.