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Robert Sanchez’s rise from a lower-league loan star to the biggest stages in European football has been one of the more remarkable upward trajectories of recent years.
The stopper arrived on English soil as a 15-year-old in June 2015 to join Brighton & Hove Albion, with loan spells at Forest Green Rovers and Rochdale soon following.
Sanchez on his Spanish dream and goalkeeping idol
More was to come, as within a year of his final appearance for Rochdale, Sanchez earned his first call-up to the Spanish national team, as his performances in the Brighton goal continued to catch the eye.
This included a run of five clean sheets from six performances at the start of 2021, which was enough to convince Luis Enrique, the then-Spain boss, to bring him into the camp.
This then gave a 23-year-old Sanchez the opportunity to train alongside his idol, David de Gea.
“I’ve always been a massive fan of his,” Sanchez tells FourFourTwo.
“He was one of the goalkeepers I followed as a kid, being Spanish, playing for the national team, then going to England.”
And this was a career path that Sanchez consciously looked to emulate, with De Gea making the move to Old Trafford as a 20-year-old in 2011.
“I tried to follow his path,” he continues, referring to his own move which came about when he left Levante to try his luck in the Premier League in 2013.
Sanchez would relish this first taste of the Spanish national team set-up, and served alongside De Gea as understudies to Unai Simon at the delayed Euro 2020, before making the squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
“I ended up playing in the national team with him, training and becoming good friends – that was a dream come true.
“He’s not only a top goalie, but a top guy. He was brilliant.”
