Not Cristiano Ronaldo: New Real Madrid gem Franco Mastantuono names club legend as his inspiration

So far in this transfer window, Real Madrid have already invested heavily in top-tier talent to strengthen their roster. One of those signings is Franco Mastantuono, who arrived from River Plate for more than $50 million. Now, the young Argentine forward has cited a club legend as his inspiration—and it’s not Cristiano Ronaldo.

“Following the same path as Don Alfredo is a source of pride for someone who came from River Plate,” Mastantuono said in a recent interview with Marca. He is, of course, referring to Alfredo Di Stefano, one of the greatest legends in Real Madrid history.

Di Stefano was born in Argentina in 1926 and made his professional debut at age 19 with River. After a short stint with Huracan, the forward enjoyed a golden era with the Buenos Aires club between 1947 and 1949, scoring 55 goals in 75 matches. He then played several seasons for Millonarios in Colombia before earning his move to Spain in 1953.

From that point forward, Alfredo became one of the most dominant figures in world soccer, leading Real Madrid for 11 seasons and winning 18 trophies—including five European Champion Clubs’ Cups (now known as the UEFA Champions League).

The fact that both players are Argentine forwards who came through River Plate and were later signed by Real Madrid naturally invites comparisons between Di Stefano and Mastantuono. The young player embraces the parallels and hopes to follow a similar path, though he’s fully aware that expectations around him will be higher than usual.

Real Madrid continue betting on youth

In recent years, Real Madrid have followed a clear strategy in building their squads: signing young talent, sometimes with limited professional experience, and developing them early within the club to shape the stars of tomorrow.

Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde, Rodrygo Goes, Arda Guler, Jude Bellingham, and Endrick are all products of that approach. Franco Mastantuono is the latest addition to this list. In fact, the Argentine is so young that he has yet to join training with the team—he must wait until he turns 18 (on August 14) to be officially registered by Real Madrid.

The record Cristiano Ronaldo broke from Di Stefano

Alfredo Di Stefano played for Real Madrid from 1953 to 1964. During that span, he scored 308 goals in 396 appearances, becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer. That record stood for 45 years until Raul Gonzalez surpassed it in 2009 with 323 goals.

However, Di Stefano held onto another milestone for a while longer: the most goals scored by a foreign player in Real Madrid history. Eventually, Cristiano Ronaldo shattered that mark as well—along with Raul’s—cementing himself as the club’s all-time top scorer with 450 goals across all competitions.