How Boreham Wood 'magician' Zak Brunt forged unique path after blocked Atletico Madrid move and Guti's Real Madrid interest

Zak Brunt's career could have played out so differently. "Disillusioned" by the academies of Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa, the Boreham Wood playmaker took an unusual, winding route through his early career - one that would lead to garnering attention from Madrid's elite clubs.

Highlights: Boreham Wood put three past Newport County

Video credit: TNT Sports

For any child with ambitions of becoming a professional footballer, a place in the prestigious academies of United, City or Villa would be a dream come true. Unfortunately, for many, the reality does not always match up.

"I didn't really think it would make me a better player," Brunt tells TNT Sports at Meadow Park, the 4,500-capacity home of Boreham Wood, where the National League leaders will host Wigan Athletic in the Emirates FA Cup first round on Saturday.

"I think it's changed a lot now, especially top academies. They used to push and try and create the next [Cristiano] Ronaldo or [Lionel] Messi and everyone else would fall below the bar.

Transfers

Gabriel reveals Ballon d'Or 'dream' ahead of Real Madrid transfer

8 hours ago

"I remember being at Man Utd and it was: 'get the ball, go one on one, try and take on the whole team try to score'. That was never going to really work for me."

That led Brunt through a path rarely trodden by young, budding English footballers. "I said originally, I want to go and play in Brazil," he says. But that wasn't viable.

A few cold emails from his father later, Brunt wound up in Spain, offered trials by Real Valladolid and then Atletico Madrid.

"It was actually a mental one," Brunt recalls. "Over there they have five teams, so the A and B [teams], then the C, D, all the way down to the community team, that would be classed as the E team. So I had to start with them and work my way up with Atletico.

"And then they tried to sign me."

But this is where things started to unravel. Unbeknownst to both Brunt and his father, FIFA - world football's governing body - heavily restricts international movement of players under the age of 16, unless they meet one of very few specific exceptions.

While his mother and siblings remained in England, Brunt and his father stayed in Spain during an 18-month appeal process with FIFA, while continuously renewing six-week trial periods with Atletico.

"Then the final application got rejected and they said you can only play unaffiliated football in Spain until you're 16, then you could sign," Brunt says. "I think I was like 13, nearly 14 at the time."

The attacking midfielder found himself maximising time on the training pitches of Madrid, replicating a full-time schedule, when he ended up playing with the son of Real Madrid legend Guti at Rayo Majadahonda.

Guti - then working in the Bernabeu's youth system alongside fellow coach Roberto Rojas - soon identified Brunt's talent.

"Guti used to come down and watch his son. He said, 'I'm at an affiliated training academy ... we run it on a Sunday and it's the best lads from around the Madrid area'," Brunt says.

"Roberto was the manager of my age group at Real, and Guti his assistant, so they said, 'Oh, do you want to come in for a trial?

"I was obviously like, 'Yeah'.

"And then when I explained what had happened with Atletico, they were like, 'Oh, we can't touch him.'"

So after around 20 months, Brunt returned home, and joined Derby County's academy. It wasn't easy getting over his experience in Spain.

"It was tough," he says. "But obviously I was back home, I was comfortable, I had my friends, I had my family back around me. So there were some bits that were hard but some bits that were made it a lot easier as well."

Back in England, stocked with "a better football IQ" and the physical benefits from training in a "very high-pressing" Atletico system, Brunt's development took another turn.

At 16, he was lumped with a hefty compensation fee at Derby, restricting his potential movement away from the club, and meaning he had to get creative in a search for first-team minutes.

"I went to Matlock Town at 16," he says. "I could only sign at a certain level, it was my dad's old manager who was, who was managing, and he said can I come home and train, and I was 15 at the time so I couldn't even sign and I signed on my 16th birthday.

"The lads were unbelievable with me, but that kind of woke me up. I remember on my debut, I think I come on and got an assist.

"I got smashed, and the geezer got in my face and was like, ‘Get the **** up, I've got work tomorrow'.

"I was like, 'What is going on?' That was crazy."

Five years in Sheffield United's academy followed, with loan spells at Southend United, Notts County, and Boreham Wood, before joining Barnet permanently in 2023, and playing a leading role in their National League title campaign in 2024/25.

It took a club-record deal for the Wood to bring Brunt back to Meadow Park in a show of the Hertfordshire club's hopes of a maiden promotion to the English Football League (EFL) last summer. And with 21 goals and 28 assists in just 58 league appearances since his return, the record price tag has been more than justified.

"I call him a magician," manager Luke Garrard says. "And that's not me putting pressure on him. He is a magician. Some of the things he does, I'm in awe of."

Thanks to Brunt's scintillating form, the Wood are the only remaining undefeated team in the top five English divisions. With 14 wins and two draws, already 12 points clear at the top of the National League, there is palpable belief among players and staff that an FA Cup upset may well be on.

'I was crying on my sofa many a day'

For Wood manager Garrard, all the motivation he needs for success sits framed as a small, A5 portrait on his office desk.

A picture of the 41-year-old on his own, desolate, taken after his side surrendered a 2-0 lead - via a 97th-minute equaliser - before losing on penalties to Rochdale in the National League play-off final earlier this year.

"I don't know who sent it to me," Garrard says. "Other people would throw it in the bin or walk away from it. That's on my desk every single morning. That's what I look at when I walk in. That's my fuel."

Even after his side's outstanding start to the 2026/27 season, the feeling lingers. "It doesn't put Wembley to bed," Garrard says. Now in his 12th season in the dugout at the Wood, he knows all too well the rigours of a league which sees just one team promoted automatically, leaving the fate of the other chasers to chance.

As such, National League coaches are well-accustomed to euphoric highs and sickening lows. But in April 2024 came the nadir for Garrard.

After nine successful years, including an historic run to the FA Cup fifth round in 2022, beating AFC Wimbledon and Bournemouth en route to a 2-0 defeat against Everton at Goodison Park, Garrard and the Wood parted company, with his side relegated after a final-day draw against Ebbsfleet United.

FA Cup first-round highlights - Boreham Wood vs Crawley Town

Video credit: TNT Sports

"The first day after I relegated this team against Ebbsfleet, I stood in my kitchen, my wife was in the other end of the house, and at 7am on the Sunday morning, I said I have no purpose," Garrard says.

Other job opportunities came before the Wood parted company with his successor, Ross Jenkins, just a month into the following season. By September 2024, Garrard was back on the Meadow Park touchline - out of the job for just five months.

"It felt like years," he says. "It was tough. I'll be open and honest, I'm vulnerable.

"I was crying on my sofa many a day because I've gone from managing a football club, my day-to-day, and now I've got no purpose. So it was tough.

"I went and learned, I called upon friends in the game to make sure that I wasn't stagnant and I see the game differently. Never had that period in my time as a manager. I've only ever been a manager since the age of 30 all the way until the age of 39. It's unforgiving and it's relentless."

A fifth-placed finish in the National League South and 1-0 play-off final victory over Maidstone United saw Garrard's Wood return to the National League at the first time of asking. The momentum hasn't halted.

"I enjoy my wins more than I've ever enjoyed my wins, and that's something that I've never done," Garrard says.

"I'm never that guy, I'm never too high, I'm never too low, but my point is there are a lot more losses in the game of football than there is wins, and I had to take my medicine when I relegated this team back in 2024.

"It hurt me, it rocked me.

"This was me that had three play-off campaigns here as a manager, I went to the fifth round of the FA Cup, went to the third round twice, probably one of the best records in the [FA Cup] as a National League manager, and I relegated them on the last day against Ebbsfleet, and I felt that I'm actually not a good manager. You put doubt in your head.

Watch highlights as Chesterfield beat Boreham Wood to clinch National League title

Video credit: TNT Sports

"Losing my job, being out of work, most definitely told me that I need to appreciate when I go back in the building and understand that it's never a given, and I feel that I'm doing that."

While FA Cup runs are seen as a rare treat for those lower down the pyramid, Garrard's side - who began their journey in the fourth qualifying round - have made them somewhat habitual.

The Wood have reached the third round or beyond in four of their past six seasons, an ominous record for 2013 winners Wigan - who sit 21st in League One before Saturday's trip.

And Garrard - who graciously gave his time to TNT Sports despite being deep in thorough set-piece analysis - is encouraging his side to adopt an "underdog mentality."

"My thing is, we're playing a League One side, quite rightly, they've played brilliantly in terms of their metrics, we're hot on that," he says.

"We know and appreciate that they've got quality in their building, but it is a cup game, form goes out the window.

"Belief and confidence most definitely remain. We're currently 21 games unbeaten in all competitions. We haven't lost a game. So momentum's heavily in our favour.

"We'll build the team up to appreciate and understand that we've got to have that confidence and belief, but that underdog mentality. We've got to run and we've got to run hard."

Which FA Cup matches are live with TNT Sports on HBO Max?

TNT Sports on HBO Max will bring you a weekend of matches from the FA Cup first round in November.

For the latest information on which football matches are on TNT Sports in the UK, click here.

Here is the TNT Sports schedule and TV guide.

Date	Match	Kick-off (UK times)
Friday, November 6	Oxford City v Leicester City	19:45
Saturday, November 7	Altrincham v Notts County	17:30
Saturday, November 7	Peterborough United v Reading	20:00
Sunday, November 8	Stafford Rangers v Grimsby Town	12:00
Sunday, November 8	Cray Wanderers v Stockport County	14:15
Sunday, November 8	Wimborne Town v Crawley	15:00
Sunday, November 8	Oldham Athletic v Sheffield Wednesday	17:15
Monday, November 9	Plymouth Parkway v Berkhamsted	19:30

Transfers

JJ Gabriel 'close' to sealing Madrid move, Liverpool target Valverde - Euro Transfer News

23 hours ago

The Emirates FA Cup

FA Cup first round storylines: Savage family battle, Leicester upset fear, Sharp hunts milestone

06/11/2026

Related Matches

Boreham Wood

Wigan Athletic