Cristiano Ronaldo’s son starts his football career but it’s not at Real Madrid [El Mundo]

Cristianinho begins his career

In the last few weeks in England, reports have surfaced that Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney have enrolled their sons in the youth setup at Manchester United.

Over in Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo’s son has also begun his football career in recent weeks, but unlike his dad, he’s not playing at Real Madrid.

That’s by design, however, as reported by El Mundo this weekend.

Pozuelo CF, not Madrid

Cristiano junior has started his career with a small club call Pozuelo CF.

The six year old had his debut a little under a fortnight ago, in a 4-3 win over a side called El Carrascal.

El Mundo report that Cristianinho wore the number 7 shirt in the game, his dad watched in the stands, and the youngster scored one of the goals for his team.

The Spanish paper also asked:

El Mundo stress that the decision doesn’t relate to Ronaldo’s relationship with club president Florentino Perez, yet it’s also noted the Cristiano doesn’t have the same affection for Real as the likes of Zinedine Zidane or Luis Figo.

Instead, it’s claimed Cristianinho is playing for Pozuelo in order to protect the kid’s privacy and to “avoid greater media exposure.”

Nevertheless, El Mundo can’t help but stir the pot:

The truth is that the decision not to enroll his child in the Real Madrid has caused a stir and surprise.