Tiny Claudio Ñancufil set for Europe as the elite battle it out

Never before has an 8-year old footballer been the subject of such interest but reports today suggest Claudio Ñancufil, is set to travel to Europe to have trials at Spanish giants, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

Videos of Ñancufil and rumoured interest from Spain as well as Manchester United and Chelsea have made him news worthy around the world.

Claudito is currently playing for his local side, Deportivo Güemes in Bariloche but Manuel Otero, from the Barcelona-based PR agency that have signed him up, has confirmed that he will travel to Spain in January for trials with Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Barcelona appear to be in pole position and the story of Ñancufil looks set to mirror that of Lionel Messi. As well as joining Barca’s illustrious La Masia academy, it is understood that they would foot the bill for hormone treatment to assist Ñancufil’s growth. Like Messi, Claudio is very small and Barcelona’s Technical Director, Guillermo Amor has spoken to the family to discuss this.

Marcelo Ernalz, President of Deportivo Güemes has spoken of the other similarities with the world’s best player. “As soon as he started to play at the age of four he was already different from all the rest of his team mates with regards to technique.”

Adding, “How he takes the ball stuck to his foot, brakes, stops, kicks, scores, shoots on goal, from when he was little he had all these distinct qualities.”

The meteoric rise to fame will also see Claudio star in a forthcoming BBC documentary charting the rise of Argentina’s footballing stars. Divided into 3 parts: Diego Maradona as the past, Lionel Messi as the present and Claudio as the future.

If Claudio ends up half as good as those other two some lucky team in Europe is about to claim a huge bargain and, perhaps cynically, make a lot of people a lot of money.