Who is Joselu, Real Madrid’s new striker?

Joselu will be a Real Madrid player next season. Los Blancos have made the agreement with Espanyol official whereby the 33-year-old striker will play on loan at the Santiago Bernabéu in the 2023-24 season.

Madrid, Joselu and the deal

Joselu and Madrid took advantage of the clause included in the player’s contract by which, once the relegation of the Catalan club to the second tier was assured, a loan deal was required so that the player’s salary would be maintained. However, the capital club agreed to negotiate to find an amicable solution and the result of those talks is a loan for which Madrid will pay €500,000, with a non-mandatory purchase option of €1.5 million in 2024.

In addition, an option has been agreed for the relegated team to have a preferential option for two Castilla players once the initial period ends.

Who is Real Madrid’s new striker Joselu?

The striker, who scored 16 goals this season in the league, arrives to reinforce the position of ‘9′ at Real Madrid, where in recent years Karim Benzema has lacked a suitable teammate to compete with him.

It will be Joselu’s second spell at the white club. The Galician, although born in Stuttgart, was a member of Castilla for two years (where he arrived from Celta Vigo) in the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. In the second campaign the white subsidiary achieved what is, so far, their last promotion to Segunda.

That season Joselu was the top scorer of the team, with 26 goals (19 in the regular season and seven in the promotion playoff), well ahead of Álvaro Morata (18), who has since gone on to great things at the likes of Juventus, Atlético and Chelsea, as well as with Madrid and the Spanish national team.

During his time at Valdebebas, Joselu shared a dressing room with Nacho, Carvajal and Morata, among others.

He also had the opportunity to debut with the first team under the management of José Mourinho. He played six minutes in the win (8-1) against Almería on the last day of 2010-11 and 12 minutes in the round of 32 against Ponferradina (5-1) the following season. Joselu scored goals in both games.

Joselu's trajectory

After spending time at Castilla, Joselu packed his bags and looked to make a career abroad. He wore the shirts of Hoffenheim (who paid six million for his signing), Eintracht Frankfurt and Hannover in the Bundesliga as well as Stoke City in the English Premier League. He returned to Spain to serve for a season at Deportivo before heading back to England for two seasons at Newcastle.

In the 2019-20 season, he signed for Alavés, where he stayed for three seasons, in each of which he surpassed the bar of ten league goals (11, 11 and 14 goals, respectively). After ending his contract there, he joined Espanyol, where his 16 goals were not enough to help his team avoid relegation.

But his brilliant individual season helped him receive the call up from Luis de la Fuente for the Spanish national team. On March 25, two days before his 33rd birthday, he made his international debut, scoring a double in Málaga that secured the victory (3-0) of La Roja against Norway in the first qualifying match for the European Championship.

On Sunday he held aloft the Nations League trophy, and will soon be presented to the Madrid fans...