Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Real Madrid's Jesus Vallejo 'scandalously good' - Niko Kovac

On-loan Real Madrid defender Jesus Vallejo has been "scandalously good" so far this season, according to his Eintracht Frankfurt coach Niko Kovac.

Vallejo, 19, was signed from Real Zaragoza for €5 million in summer 2015, then spent the following season on loan at the Segunda Division club, before heading to Bundesliga side Frankfurt for the 2016-17 campaign.

The Spain under-21 international has quickly established himself as a first team starter with Die Adler, while a video of him outsprinting ex-Barcelona man Alen Halilovic in last weekend's 3-0 win at Hamburg has been widely shared in Spain.

Vallejo's performance in that game earned a place in the official Bundesliga fantasy XI for the weekend, as well as praise from his club boss.

"I've never seen a player like [Vallejo], as a player or as a coach," AS quote Kovac as saying. "This kid is scandalously good."

Eintracht goalkeeper Lukas Hrdecky has also been impressed with the teenager, according to Marca.

"He is our best player at the moment," Hrdecky said. "Vallejo makes my work a lot easier."

Frankfurt have apparently already been in contact with Real Madrid about extending Vallejo's spell with them, however the youngster himself told AS recently that he planned to be a long-term success at the Bernabeu.

The emergence of such a new defensive star may have a knock-on effect on the future of current Los Blancos centre-back Pepe, who is out of contract at the end of the current season, and who recently called on the club to make the next move in deadlocked talks.

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