Joselu makes surprising decision over Real Madrid future | OneFootball

Joselu has made his own decision not to continue at Real Madrid in 2024/25, despite the club preparing to exercise the purchase option in his loan from Espanyol, reports have revealed.

The striker had put up respectable goalscoring numbers in La Liga with Alaves and then Espanyol since returning to Spain from England in 2019. But his move to Madrid as additional cover up front following Karim Benzema's departure still came as a surprise.

The club signed no other new forwards after that, meaning Joselu ended up playing a very prominent role – 49 appearances across all competitions. Of his 18 goals, a tally bettered only by Vinicius Junior (24) and Jude Bellingham (23), none were more important than the late brace against Bayern Munich that directly secured Madrid's place in the Champions League final.

But while his arrival was a surprise, his impending departure is an even greater one.

The Athletic has reported that Madrid were willing to pay the nominal €1.5m purchase option to keep Joselu beyond his initial loan and that Carlo Ancelotti expected the 34-year-old to continue playing an important role – seemingly despite the arrivals of Kylian Mbappe and Endrick.

Joselu will leave Real Madrid a European champion / Jonathan Moscrop/GettyImages

Perhaps expecting his game time to fall as Ancelotti finds a way to incorporate his two new attacking powerhouses, Joselu appears to be taking advantage of a final big pay day before he retires. An offer from Al Gharafa in Qatar is described as "significantly" better than his current salary in Spain.

Fabrizio Romano adds that Madrid will trigger their purchase option before selling Joselu to Al Gharafa for the same €1.5m fee.

The Qatar Stars League has occasionally welcomed big name imports over the years, including Xavi, Pep Guardiola, Gabriel Batistuta, Fernando Hierro, Wesley Sneijder, Marcel Desailly, Juninho Pernambucano and others. But it has been left in the wake of the supersized ambition and big spending of the rival neighbouring Saudi Pro League since the end of 2022.

Madrid have already seen another of their Champions League-winning squad head to the Middle East, with departing club captain Nacho Fernandez joining lesser-known Saudi side Al Qadsiah.