Monday brings a pair of Real Madrid player outgoings, with both footballers heading to the Middle East. Team captain Nacho Fernandez will exit stage left when his contract expires at the end of this month. The 34-year-old is headed to newly-promoted Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah. Meanwhile Joselu is headed to Qatar, where he’ll play for Al Gharafa, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
For now though, let’s focus on Nacho, whom will make his switch to Saudi Arabia once his international duty at Euro 2024 with Spain comes to an end.
Nacho now ends his time at the Bernabeu, and it’s the club he’s spent with since 2011. The center back, who can also play fullback, won a joint-record (Paco Gento, Luka Modri?, Toni Kroos and Dani Carvajal are the others) six UEFA Champions League titles there. With Nacho leaving, it is Modric who will now wear the armband this upcoming season. He will be first captain, followed by the right-back duo of Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez.
Football Espana has more.
Moving on to Joselu, he is going to end up being a one year wonder at Madrid.
While he was very effective in the final third, the arrivals of Kylian Mbappé and Endrick means that playing time will now be especially hard to come by in the attacking third at Real Madrid. According to Cope, Joselu now departs the club only a few weeks after having signed for Los Blancos on permanent basis.
The European champions only recently activated his €1.5 million ($1.6 million) outright buy option in the loan deal with RCD Espanyol. However, Joselu will have to make peace with only having been a Real Madrid player for a short time, as he now departs for the Persian Gulf nation.
I’m sure the very nice payday will help with that. Overall, Joselu scored 18 goals in 49 appearances across all competitions for Madrid. Forbes has more.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.