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Franco Mastantuono is the youngest player to start a Champions League game for Real Madrid

He may be only 18 years old and Real Madrid's new superstar, but Franco Mastantuono's path could have easily taken him on a different route than football.

The youngster once dreamed of becoming a YouTube star, while he was also a young maestro on the tennis court, travelling around Argentina to play matches.

What diverted him? He was just too good with the ball at his feet.

River Plate received 45m euros (£38.5m) for the attacking midfielder when he joined Real Madrid last month.

However, the Argentine giants say Real's expenditure on Mastantuono - including taxes and payments elsewhere - totals 63.2m euros (£54m) in a record sale for the South American country's first division.

After the deal was announced in June, he officially made the switch to La Liga after turning 18 in August.

"Any player in the world dreams of playing for River Plate and Real Madrid," he told DAZN during his...