Gonzalo Garcia to Fulham back on - reports

Fulham have re-joined the hunt for Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Garcia, according to reports.

Last week, it was reported that Garcia was part of Jose Mourinho’s plans upon his return to the Santiago Bernabeu.

But on Monday, it was revealed that Fulham were in advanced talks to bring Garcia to west London, with Alvaro Arbeloa desperate to land the young Spaniard.

Fulham, having lost Raul Jimenez and Harry Wilson on free transfers, in what has up to this point been a totally disastrous summer for the Cottagers, are in a clear need of signing a new centre forward.

And from before Arbeloa was even confirmed as Fulham’s new manager, there were rumours linking a quartet of Real Madrid players to Craven Cottage.

Those four, Garcia, Cesar Palacios, Thiago Pitarch and Franco Mastantuono, all remain possible new signings for the Cottagers, but it has been made clear that Garcia is Arbeloa’s No. 1 target for the summer.

And it is for that reason that Fulham have continued to negotiate, despite it seeming last week that they were likely to pull away after Mourinho was reportedly impressed with Garcia’s pre-season.

The Athletic’s Mario Cortegana reported that Fulham were to approach Real Madrid over a potential deal for Garcia, before the likes of Fabrizio Romano followed suit to further cement the rumour.

Ekrem Konur has revealed that Fulham are set to hold talks with Real Madrid this week over the Spanish forward, with the deal set to be a permanent transfer but Los Blancos retaining future control of Garcia.

The fee between the two clubs is expected to be around the €25 - €30 million mark, which would seemingly represent an excellent deal for Fulham.

The Cottagers now have under a month until their season opener against Chelsea at Craven Cottage on August 24.

They have so far failed to sign any major target, with young Jonah Kusi-Asare their only acquisition this summer, coming in on a deal worth €6 million from Bayern Munich.

The club previously failed in their pursuit of USA forward Ricardo Pepi, after two negotiation periods with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven failed to materialise.

There were also links previously to Troy Parrott, although it is not understood if any bid actually came about in that deal.

From Alvaro Arbeloa’s side though, it became very clear, very quickly, that the player he has wanted all along has been Garcia and the Spaniard is still the No.1 target - now it remains to be seen if Fulham can indeed get the deal over the line.