The Swiss Army Knife

He has many nicknames. “Baby Bird”, ‘Falcon’, and he is often called “The Swiss Army Knife”. He has been hailed this week as “Captain Fantastic”, ‘the Saviour’ and ‘Hatrick Hero.

Fede Valverde has finally made his presence felt beyond the Real Madrid base with his amazing performance in the Champions League. He humiliated Manchester City.

The goal comes on the heels of a match-winning strike in Vigo, which saw his team defeat Celta to keep them within striking distance from La Liga leaders Barcelona.

He has covered every position on the outfield for his club, hence his nickname of “the Swiss Army Knife”.

He is the ultimate club-man: He’s what Steven Gerrard was to Liverpool, Frank Lampard to Chelsea, and Thomas Müller to Bayern Munich; he covers every inch of the turf and is famed for his long-distance goals.

For part of the year, he played the right-back due to injuries to Trent Alexander-Arnold (Dani Carvajal) and Dani Carvajal.

He complained once, but most players with his ability would have knocked on the door of the manager or demanded that the agent slam the phone. Xabi alonso left him out of the starting XI at FC Kairat. Clever management. If you’re going to do it, drop the undroppable for a visit to Kazakhstan.

Valverde, who is a natural right-sided midfielder, can now flourish in his position. This is a simplistic description. Valverde has scored four important goals in his last two matches while also keeping an eye on Alexander-Arnold when he goes off on a journey.

The Englishman was blown away by the partnership he has with Uruguayan. Trent, after Man City’s victory said: “I’ve ran out of words. I’ve been saying it for years. He is the most underrated soccer player on the globe.”

Now, observers from outside Spain are paying attention to his extraordinary talents. Valverde convinced me that I was not crazy for predicting Real Madrid could win the Champions League in this season.

Valverde could be a serious contender for the Ballon d’or. He will be recognized if he captains his team and leads them to victory in the Champions League.

Thierry Henry is a huge fan of Fede Valverde: “Fede Valverde wasn’t just Bergkamp today.” He was Thuram, Bergkamp, Makélélé; he was everybody.”

It took some time before he received full acclaim. Toni Kroos is now wearing the number 8 shirt. The qualities of the German midfielder were only widely acknowledged in his autumn years.

Valverde is still only 27; he’s been hailed as ‘the 21st century Juanito’ – the legendary player who is said to embody the Real Madrid spirit.

He’s developed from “pajarito” (baby bird) to “halcón” (falcon) in his 10 years at the Bernabéu. He has his own stadium, but now the world belongs to him.