Mallorca teen Romero sets new record as La Liga’s youngest ever player

Mallorca youngster Luka Romero became the youngest player ever to feature in La Liga when he came on against Real Madrid on Wednesday.

The 15-year-old replaced Idrissu Baba in the 83rd minute of the 2-0 defeat to Zinedine Zidane’s side to set a new record in the Spanish league.

The previous record had been set over 80 years ago when former defender Sanson made his debut for Celta in December 1939.

1 – Aged 15 years and 219 days, Mallorca’s Luka Romero becomes the youngest player to ever play a @LaLigaEN game, beating Sansón’s record for Celta de Vigo in December 1939 (15 years and 255 days). Kid.

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) June 24, 2020

The attacking midfielder had been included in the Mallorca matchday squad for clashes against Villarreal and Leganes in recent weeks, but was finally given his first taste of senior football with a brief appearance against the capital club.

Romero, who is said to have caught the attention of Manchester United, Barcelona, Juventus and Atletico Madrid, was born in Mexico but represents the Argentina Under 17s. 

At the age of seven he had a trial at Barcelona and impressed the Camp Nou outfit’s scouts enough to convince them to try to sign him, but his parents refused to move to Catalunya and he ended up joining the Mallorca youth set up five years ago.

The teenager is the son of Argentine defensive midfielder Diego Romero, who currently plays for Son Verí in the regional leagues in Spain. 

Romero’s brief appearance could do little to turn his team’s fortunes around, as Los Blancos had already taken a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Vinicius Junior and Sergio Ramos.

The victory took the Santiago Bernabeu side back to the top of the Spanish top flight with seven games left to play. They are level on points with Barcelona but have a better head-to-head record over their fierce rivals.

Mallorca, meanwhile, are still in the relegation zone. Vicente Moreno’s team are third from bottom and three points behind 17th placed Eibar, who have a game in hand as they face Valencia on Thursday.