Former Real Madrid Player Highlights Differences Between Franco Mastantuono and Lamine Yamal
Javier Saviola has asked all parties to be patient in observing the young star of Real Madrid, Franco Mastantuono, who has not yet consistently performed in the Spanish League.
Franco Mastantuono has become one of the highlights in European football since moving from River Plate and joining the Spanish giants, Real Madrid, in the summer 2026 transfer window.
Since leaving the Argentinian League club, River Plate, Mastantuono has only appeared in 15 matches, scoring only one goal in the Spanish League with Real Madrid.
He has also only recorded 751 minutes of play in the top tier of the Spanish League.
This record is still too little for Mastantuono, who is touted as one of the most promising young stars with Real Madrid.
This has then provoked a response from former Barcelona and Real Madrid player, Javier Saviola.
This is considering that this player immediately joined one of the biggest clubs in the Spanish League, Real Madrid.
In addition, young players need to be given time to develop and it is also necessary for Real Madrid to continue to observe Mastantuono’s changes little by little, just like when Saviola came to Barcelona in 2001.
“Yes. We both came very young from River Plate to a big European club. He has not yet fully met all expectations, but this is his first year,” said Saviola.
“The Spanish League is very different from what is played in South America. We have to wait for him to complete the adaptation and evolution process because he has a lot of quality,” he added.
Yamal is a product of Barcelona’s academy, La Masia, and is now a star at the Camp Nou stadium.
According to Saviola, Mastantuono and Yamal cannot be compared, considering that the two players have different circumstances.
In fact, according to the player who also joined Benfica, fans need to be patient to see the best performance from Mastantuono.
“I used to coach him [Yamal] in the Barça junior team and you could already see that he was different, that his personality was not normal.
“When I arrived at Barcelona at the age of 19, Zidane was in Madrid. Someone tried to compare us and I laughed because the Frenchman was like a beast on the field,” added Saviola.