The '9' Real Madrid was going to sign until Gonzalo appeared, signing canceled

The big surprise for Real Madrid in this Club World Cup has been Gonzalo García. Getting minutes in Mbappé's absence, the Real Madrid youth academy product has surprised with his performance. Helping Real Madrid in several areas of the field during the matches, Gonzalo led the club to rule out signing Nick Woltemade.

The VfB Stuttgart forward was one of last season's big revelations in Europe. In just his first campaign with Stuttgart, the young German was clearly the club's attacking reference. Standing nearly 6 ft. 7 in. tall (almost 2 meters), Real Madrid spent several weeks analyzing his progress, ending with a very favorable report.

His signing had started to take shape for Real Madrid, with the club considering reaching an agreement. However, Gonzalo's emergence has stopped everything related to this operation, with Xabi Alonso now having the forward he had been searching for.

The impact of Gonzalo García

After spending most of his young career at Werder Bremen, Woltemade made the leap to Stuttgart. A risky move that paid off after the impressive numbers Woltemade achieved. 17 goals and 3 assists in 33 matches played is a very favorable record for a forward who showed his potential to Real Madrid.

Although Real Madrid never made any formal offer for Woltemade, one was being prepared. As a box player with great height, Woltemade fit perfectly into the profile Xabi Alonso was looking for at Real Madrid.

However, given the sacrifice and effort Gonzalo has shown in the matches he has played, Xabi changed his mind. Although Woltemade's signing hasn't been completely ruled out, his chances of joining Real Madrid are very slim.

Xabi's new forward

Having developed in Real Madrid's youth academy since 2014, Gonzalo is making the most of his opportunities with the first team. Even though Mbappé remains the team's clear starter, Gonzalo's impact has already ruled out the arrival of a promising forward.