Real Madrid are reportedly selling super-sub Gonzalo Garcia to Fulham for a huge fee | Goal.com

Published on 30 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 3 minutes

Spanish radio station Cadena COPE report that Fulham are on the verge of signing Garcia. The report says the two clubs have reached an agreement and Fulham will pay a hefty €40 million transfer fee for 70 per cent of the striker's rights. Real are also said to have secured a buy-back option for Garcia if they want to bring back their academy product one day.

At Fulham, Garcia would link up again with his former coach Alvaro Arbeloa. Arbeloa previously coached the forward in Real's youth set-up, then stepped up from B team coach to first-team manager at the start of the year after Xabi Alonso's dismissal. By the end of the season just gone, Arbeloa had left his post at Los Blancos again and now appears to be taking Garcia with him to the Premier League.

Earlier this July, Arbeloa signed a three-year contract with Fulham and took over from Marco Silva. The Portuguese had managed the Cottagers for the previous five years, first leading them back to the Premier League and then establishing them in mid-table. Silva has now succeeded Jose Mourinho at Benfica, who in turn succeeded Arbeloa at Real Madrid.

Garcia came through Real's academy and earned bigger opportunities with an outstanding season for the B team in the 2024/25 campaign. He scored 25 goals in 36 appearances in Spain's third division. As a reward, the youngster was allowed to travel to the Club World Cup in summer 2025 and stayed in the starting line-up throughout, initially because of Kylian Mbappe's illness-related absence. Garcia took his chance with important goals, scoring four times in six appearances at the Club World Cup overall.

After that, in the season just gone, he still mostly had to settle for a role off the bench because of the high-class competition in Real's attack, but he did get regular minutes. Across all competitions, Garcia played 39 times, scoring eight goals and providing three assists. Since Arbeloa took over in mid-January, his playing time had increased at least somewhat further.

Should the €40 million from Fulham for Garcia really flow into Real's coffers, it would further boost their transfer surplus so far this summer. Against the €90 million invested so far, including the fee for coach Mourinho, they would have transfer income of more than €150 million. A large part of that comes from sell-on clauses Real agreed when they sold former academy talents. One example: of the €40 million that Liverpool transferred to CA Osasuna for former Real talent Victor Munoz, €20 million went to the Bernabeu because of a 50 per cent sell-on clause.

Garcia, whose contract at Real runs until 2030, had also attracted interest from several high-profile clubs. Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart are also said to have been tracking the 22-year-old, while Fenerbahce and Sevilla were considered interested. If Fulham get the deal over the line, Garcia will naturally want to establish himself as a regular starter. His direct rival would be Rodrigo Muniz, who, however, is coming off an injury-plagued season with only one goal in 21 Premier League games. Muniz shared Fulham's central striker role with Mexico international Raul Jimenez, but his contract expired at the end of June and he joined Championship-relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers on a free transfer.

Garcia would also add competition for former Bayern talent Jonah Kusi-Asare. The 19-year-old striker had already been on loan at Fulham from Bayern last season, with the London club now signing him permanently for a total fee of €10 million. So far, however, Kusi-Asare has barely featured, making no more than seven brief appearances in the Premier League.

If Garcia leaves Real, Los Blancos may also avoid another explosive issue. ESPN Brasil recently reported that the Spanish runners-up still want to move on either Garcia or Brazil jewel Endrick this summer. In the latter's case, that could have caused trouble, as Endrick did not want to go out on loan again under any circumstances after the previous spell at Olympique Lyon, which was successful. Instead, the 20-year-old plans to do everything he can to make his breakthrough at Real two years after his arrival.

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