10 things to know about Borja Mayoral!

1. Borja Mayoral was born in Parla, on the outskirts of Madrid, on 5 April 1997.

2. Spotted by Real Madrid scouts, he joined the club’s academy system when he was just 10 years old

3. A prolific goalscorer, he managed 102 goals in just 77 games for Real Madrid’s Under-16 and Under-18 side, quickly earning him a promotion to the club’s Castilla (B-team).

4. There he was coached by Zinedine Zidane – before he moved up to take on the reins of the senior team. Zidane compared the young Mayoral to Raul for his approach to the game – saying “he’s a striker who scores every time he has a shot.”

5. Mayoral has represented Spain at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 level. He scored in the final as Spain won the Under-19 European Championship in 2015.

6. For Spain’s Under-21 he notched up an impressive 16 goals in 31 appearances – and came on as a substitute as they won the 2019 European U-21 Championship at the Dacia Arena in Udine.

7. He made his debut for Real Madrid in October 2015 against Las Palmas. He has since managed seven goals in 33 games for Los Blancos.

8. During his career to date he has spent loan spells at Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg and, for two years, Levante UD – where he spent both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 campaigns.

9. He was part of Real Madrid’s Champions League-winning squad during the 2017-18 season – playing (and scoring) in the group stage. He was in the squad that travelled to the final in Kiev against Liverpool, although he was not named in the matchday 18.

10. He has cited Raul and Karim Benzema among his idols – while he was sure to take a photo at Francesco Totti’s locker at the Stadio Olimpico, when he played there with Spain Under-21s against Italy back in 2017.