Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first call promising.

Real Madrid’s 15-year-old starlet Mikel López has been condemned to the same fate as so many previous prodigies; getting cast as the second coming of an existing great. In the case of the 6'4" goal-laden striker, Erling Haaland has been put forward as the natural, entirely unhelpful, counterpoint.

López has been propelled to the spotlight as a member of Spain’s freshly crowned U-15 World Cup winners but his standing has been well established in the corridors of power at Real Madrid. The risk, however, is that other elite clubs soon come to appreciate him as well.

Yet, for a player dubbed ‘mini-Haaland,’ López is already following a completely different—and potentially misleading—trajectory compared to the Manchester City star.

Why Real Madrid Are So Excited About Mikel Lopez

Qué delantero es Mikel López... 🤍#LALIGAFCFUTURES | @lafabricacrm pic.twitter.com/hgFjWywap9

— LALIGA (@LaLiga) December 29, 2023

López’s output is staggering. According to MARCA, his five seasons rising through Madrid’s youth teams have produced 148 goals. In an industry which prizes prolific strikers more than any other position, any demonstration of that talent is going to catch the eye. This hulking figure is described by the same report as a “crown jewel” the club are “guarding like a precious treasure.”

Madrid tied López to a contract last year but he will be eligible to sign his first set of professional terms when he turns 16 in 2027. There is already a sense of anticipation that Madrid won’t be the only club interested in offering the youngster a deal.

López stands out in a very literal sense. The first thing that leaps out about the forward is his stature, towering above his coaches, let alone the other 15-year-olds on his team. This trait is one of the key reasons why López has been compared to Haaland, a vertically gifted figure at 6'5", but this ignores that the World Cup’s fan favorite only became the player he is today because he wasn’t tall at López’s age.

Haaland’s Story Casts Doubt Over Real Madrid’s Next Big Thing

Haaland is a genetic freak. A giant with the twitch-speed of a diminutive sprinter who is so physically gifted it’s almost unfair. A month into his Premier League career a petition gained more than 1.8 million signatures appealing for Haaland’s removal from the competition on the grounds that he was, in fact, a robot.

Yet, the Norwegian’s path to greatness was not predestined.

“When he was young, he was fast but he wasn’t so fast and he was quite small,” Haaland’s Bryne teammate Tord Johnsen Salte recalled. “So he had to learn to adapt to being less physical than the others, he was so good at getting through on goal every time, even though he wasn’t faster than the defenders. Now he is a monster and can do both.”

“I don’t think I was born with it,” Haaland said of his goalscoring gift. “I’ve been working on it a lot and it’s become natural. I just love the feeling and that’s why I do it.”

Haaland was under six feet when he was coming through at Bryne before growing almost seven inches in the space of two years as he went from 16 to 18. Even when the former Borussia Dortmund forward moved to City, he realized that he had grown a fraction during his medical.

The technique Haaland honed during his years below the clouds, be it with the ball at his feet or the timing of his runs, were integral. López, by contrast, is at risk of bullying his way through youth team soccer without developing those added edges to his game.

At 15, there’s time for López to become anything he wants. However, if the ‘mini Haaland’ wants to live up to his nickname, he should dig below the surface of that comparison.