The club is keeping an eye on the 17-year-old Mexican, a Tijuana star. They want to see him play in a major tournament, and Aguirre is taking him to the World Cup. The forward dreams of wearing the white jersey.
His name is Gilberto Mora, he's just turned 17, and he's the latest big sensation in world football. He's one of the gems Real Madrid has in their satellite, but at the same time, they admit that they've yet to see him play in a major competition. And even that works in favor of the young star, since Mexico coach Javier Aguirre's plans include taking him to the next World Cup.
Aguirre is precisely one of the main reasons for the emergence of Tijuana's young star. It was he who called him up to the senior team to play in the Gold Cup (the equivalent of the Copa América and the Euro Cup for Central and North America) last summer when he was just 16 years old. There, he played in the quarterfinals against Saudi Arabia (they were invited to the tournament). He provided an assist in 25 minutes. And in the semis, against Honduras, he provided another assist and scored a goal. And he rose to fame... Mexico won the final against the US, and Morita became the youngest player in history to lift an international trophy, ahead of Pelé and Lamine Yamal, who won the World Cup and European Championship, respectively, at just 17 years old.
Madrid isn't caught off guard by Gilberto Mora's meteoric rise. The network of scouts Juni Calafat has woven extends not only to Argentina and Brazil, but also to other countries with less of a tradition of being good recruits, such as Mexico. The idea at the Whites is to be well positioned to participate in the operation should the youngster maintain his positive momentum. He was a sensation at the recent U-20 World Cup with three goals and two assists in five matches. Spain suffered a significant amount due to his double in the group stage.
The son of a soccer player (his father was a star for Jaguares de Chiapas, whom he saved from relegation from the Liga MX in 2003 with a goal), Gilberto Mora is a deep admirer of Real Madrid, as confirmed by Tijuana's academy director, Ignacio Ruvalcaba: "He has a dream, which is to play for Real Madrid, but he keeps his feet on the ground. He always watches football and loves watching Real Madrid. Hopefully we can see him there triumphing." However, when consulted by this newspaper, the agency that manages the player, the same one that manages Haaland, prefers to be cautious and doesn't want to close any doors. A tough fight for the player is expected in the coming months, similar to that which Madrid has experienced in its recent signings of this caliber: Vinicius (45 million from Flamengo), Rodrygo (40 from Santos), Reinier (35, also from Flamengo), Endrick (35 plus goals, from Palmeiras), and finally, Mastantuono (63.2 million from River Plate). It remains to be seen whether Gilberto Mora will be the next.
"He's ready to go wherever he wants," says his agent.
His performance in the next World Cup (he'll be playing at 17) and his continued progress will undoubtedly have a lot to do with whether Madrid will pursue him. For now, Mora, after being the third-youngest player to debut in Liga MX and the youngest to do so with the senior team, continues to break new ground at Tijuana.
Rafaela Pimenta, the player's agent (and also Haaland's), recently spoke about his situation on the Mexican TUDN program Línea de Cuatro: "We've lived for many years with the situation where a player would go to a small league and then continue the process in a big league. Now, if we go to a big team, it's the right step depending on the type of player. Gilberto is ready to play anywhere." And she joked about his price: "15 million won't buy you a leg like Gilberto." Javier Aguirre, with such an extensive past as a manager in the Spanish League and now coach of the Mexican national team, also praises the youngster: "He's very well looked after by his parents; you can immediately see that from the upbringing he's had at home. His behavior is very good; I don't think the environment or the pressure will get to him."