Alvaro Arbeloa eyes a reunion with Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Garcia as Fulham launch negotiations to secure the prolific forward.
Premier League side Fulham have initiated talks with Real Madrid for the potential transfer of Gonzalo Garcia this summer.
According to a report by Mario Cortegana of The Athletic, Fulham have entered into negotiations with Real Madrid to understand the club's demands regarding a possible signing of Gonzalo Garcia.
Alvaro Arbeloa has reportedly made the youngster from Madrid as his number one target in this summer transfer window, after coaching him in the Castilla ranks and last season, with the senior team.
Garcia considers Arbeloa as his football mentor as he grew quite swiftly under the guidance of the former Spanish right-back when he was the coach of Real Madrid's youth ranks, from Juvenil to Castilla.
Since the 22-year-old cannot be provided with regular game time throughout the upcoming season, Los Blancos had already decided months back that they would let him leave the club. However, any procedure of a transfer was stalled due to the appointment of new head coach Jose Mourinho, who has finally settled with the team and has agreed to the departure of Garcia.
The Cottagers recently announced that attacker Raul Jimenez will end his tenure at the club following his contract expiry. Therefore, Garcia would rightfully fit in Arbeloa's system as a first-choice man as a central forward. Apart from the potential signing of the Madrid-born, Jonah Kusi-Asare has permanently joined Fulham after spending last season on loan from German giants Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid are expected to retain a right of first refusal or insert a buyback clause to exercise control over the player's future if they agree on a deal to transfer him. Such has been the case for Victor Munoz, Nico Paz, Alvaro Rodriguez and Chema Andres. It is imperative to say that the Spanish capital side has made significant gains through these deals in recent times, where certain clauses had been added post-sale.
After four seasons with Real Madrid Juvenil, Garcia left for Mallorca for the 2018-19 youth season, before returning back to Los Merengues. He was registered with Castilla between the 2022 to 2025 campaigns, and received his first senior team call-up on 29 August 2023, when winger Vinicius Jr. was sidelined with an injury.
Last season, Garcia netted eight times in 39 appearances across all competitions, making just nine starts in LaLiga. Although he had to fight star man Kylian Mbappe for those caps, who remains the undisputed starter.
