Who is Fran García? More about Real Madrid’s new signing
The left-back returns to his old club. Rayo will receive 5 million euros - half of the termination clause, as Madrid retained 50% of his rights.
Fran García is returning to Real Madrid. The news was already known as Rayo Vallecano president Raúl Martín Presa mentioned the deal back in February, after the January window had closed. Carlo Ancelotti also confirmed it at a press conference during the last days of the league campaign. Today, it was made official:
“Real Madrid CF and Rayo Vallecano have agreed the transfer of the player Fran García, who will be with the club for the next four seasons. Fran García was a member of the Real Madrid youth academy from 2013, where he arrived at just 14 years of age, until 2020. He spent two seasons with Castilla and made his debut for Real Madrid’s first team in 2018. On Monday 12 June, at 12:00 noon at Real Madrid City, Fran García will be unveiled as a new Real Madrid player. Fran García will then appear before the media.”
Five million euro fee
On Monday, the 23-year-old full-back will sign a contract until June 2027. It was already understood that Madrid would trigger his termination clause effective, which is 10 million euros, although they only need to pay half of that amount as they kept 50% of the player’s rights when he was transferred to Rayo on a permanent deal in July 2021.
He has been one of the sensations of the 2022-23 LaLiga season, and was a regular for Andoni Iraola, starting and completing all 38 of the team’s league games. He racked up a total of 3.399 minutes playing time in LaLiga, scoring two goals and creating another three. He also made two appearances in the Copa del Rey.
For the last three seasons, Fran García played for Rayo Vallecano, where he has gained experience and signed notable performances: he has played a total of 10,654 minutes in 122 games with Rayo, scoring five goals and giving eight assists.
With his arrival, Real Madrid signs a long-term and young full-back (he will turn 24 in August) to compete for a place with Férland Mendy, whose level dropped quite significantly last season on top of his injury struggles. The reinforcement means that Ancelotti will no longer have to use Camavinga as a left-back, something that has happened repeatedly during the second part of the 2022-23 season.