Esteban Granero

Esteban Félix Granero Molina (born 2 July 1987 in Madrid) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Real Madrid as a midfielder.

A versatile element, known as El Pirata (the pirate), he can play as an attacking midfielder or behind the strikers. His best attributes are passing, technique, and shooting.

Club career

Granero joined the youth ranks of Real Madrid when he was just eight years old, and quickly began displaying his footballing talent. In one season, he scored 83 goals in the Under-10 division, and in 1999, captained the Under-12 B team that won the International Football-7 tournament held in the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona by defeating FC Barcelona 1–0 with his extra time goal. He was also named the best player of the competition.

Granero, alongside teammates Juan Mata and Alberto Bueno, won the Copa de Campeones Juvenil de Fútbol in 2006, an under-19 official youth tournament in Spain organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. He then joined the club's C squad, at the age of 17, standing out for his talent and passing skills, and going on to receive the Números 1 Don Balón award as the "Most Valuable Player" of the fourth division Group 7 in 2005–06, an accolade bestowed by Don Balón magazine, one of the founding members of European Sports Magazines. That same season, he made his first appearance with Real Madrid Castilla in a match against Albacete Balompié, during which he had a goal......
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