PEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE NEWS
to persuade Leganes to make the deal
permanent in July.
Born in Esbjerg to a Danish mother
and Guyanese father, Braithwaite enjoyed
an impressive autumn for both club and
country, with his goals in the Euro 2020
qualifiers against Gibraltar and Republic
of Ireland shoring up his chances of
inclusion in the Danish squad for the
Euro finals.
An eloquent interviewee who began
donating £1,000 to charity for every goal
scored while with Toulouse, he has so far
taken the move to Barcelona in his stride.
His appeal to Setien and the Barca
coaching staff is that he is a clever player
who belies the image as a target man
and is able to run the channels and track
back from wide positions.
Braithwaite almost had a dramatic
impact in the Clasico at the Bernabeu in
March when he appeared as a substitute
midway through the second half. Shortly
before Real Madrid took the lead through
Brazilian teenager Vinicius Junior, he
broke clear on the right-hand side ofMadrid’s penalty area, only for keeper
Thibaut Courtois to snaffle his shot.
In the end Madrid, having neutralised
Lionel Messi, ran out 2-0 winners thanks
to a late, second goal from Mariano Diaz
and leapfrogged Barcelona at the top of
the league.
There will, however, doubtless be
further opportunities in a Barca shirt.
And after such a surprising turn
of events, don’t bet against Martin
Braithwaite having the last laugh.
John HolmesdaleClever...Barca’s
coaching staff have
been impressed by
the Dane