{"id":1121786,"date":"2026-07-31T08:50:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T08:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1121786\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T08:50:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T08:50:30","slug":"real-madrid-21m-striker-signing-announced-as-romano-reveals-truths-on-leeds-brighton-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1121786\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Madrid: \u00a321m striker signing announced as Romano reveals truths on Leeds, Brighton links"},"content":{"rendered":"

Real Madrid have finalised the signing of Carlos Espi from Levante in a deal worth \u20ac25m, with Fabrizio Romano explaining how they managed to beat a pair of English clubs to his signature and with truths over links to Leeds United<\/a> now coming to the fore.<\/p>\n

Los Blancos swooped in quickly and efficiently to sign the 6ft 4in striker, who enjoyed a productive season with Levante last time out by scoring 13 times in 27 appearances in all competitions.<\/p>\n

Espi\u2019s move came after Real Madrid<\/a> agreed the sale of striker Gonzalo Garcia to Fulham, who reunites with Alvaro Arbeloa in west London for a fee worth \u20ac40m (\u00a334m), with the deal containing \u20ac2m in add-ons and a 30% sell-on fee.<\/p>\n

Espi arrives on a deal through to 2031, with Real triggering the \u20ac25m (\u00a321m) clause in his deal, and beating two Premier League sides to his signature.<\/p>\n

The 21-year-old striker had been on Leeds United<\/a>\u2018s watchlist, though sources told TEAMtalk that the interest was never that serious and never progressed beyond a watching brief at Elland Road, and despite several strong reports to the contrary that suggested a move to West Yorkshire was imminent.<\/p>\n

We were told at the time that the side most strongly linked with his signature were in fact Brighton, who are seeking a replacement for Danny Welbeck, who is poised to join Chelsea.<\/p>\n

Now Romano has also confirmed that Premier League new boys Hull were also in the mix for Espi\u2019s signature, though a move to the Premier League was never a question once Real thundered into the race.<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/strong>: Fulham fend off Dortmund, Como to land Real Madrid duo in outstanding \u00a343m double deal<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Romano confirms why Espi wanted Real Madrid<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indeed, Romano\u2019s update never mentions Leeds, confirming what sources had told us, and with the transfer guru explaining all the ins and outs around the capture of Espi.<\/p>\n

\u201cReal Madrid have hijacked a move that looked destined for the Premier League,\u201d Romano told his YouTube channel.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo Premier League clubs, Hull City and Brighton, were ready to pay the release clause for Carlos Espi and were negotiating with the player\u2019s representatives to bring the Levante striker to England.<\/p>\n

\u201cReal Madrid have hijacked a move that looked destined for the Premier League,\u201d Romano told his YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo Premier League clubs, Hull City and Brighton, were ready to pay the release clause for Carlos Espi and were negotiating with the player\u2019s representatives to bring the Levante striker to England.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe deal for Gonzalo Garcia is worth \u20ac40m, plus \u20ac2m in add-ons, with a 30% sell-on clause and matching rights included.<\/p>\n

\u201cJose Mourinho informed Real Madrid in the morning that he still wanted another striker.<\/p>\n

\u201cReal Madrid immediately contacted Carlos Espi\u2019s representatives and told them not to sign with either Premier League club because they wanted to enter the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspi wanted to wait for Real Madrid.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn agreement with the player was completed in five minutes because there were no issues over the contract.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that came the medical, the contract signing and Real Madrid informed Levante late in the evening that they would activate the release clause.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hijack is complete, and Carlos Espi is a new Real Madrid player.\u201d<\/p>\n

One striker we can confirm Leeds are keen on is Club Brugge\u2019s Nicolo Tresoldi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, reports now claim Manchester United are ready to enter the race, with the Belgian side\u2019s stance on his sale now coming to light<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As for Real Madrid, an update has been provided on Manchester United\u2019s interest in Aurelien Tchouameni<\/a>, with the France star described as their \u201cleading\u201d midfield target.<\/p>\n

Want more breaking news and transfer lines from original sources? Add TEAMtalk as a preferred source on Google <\/strong><\/a>to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Real Madrid have finalised the signing of Carlos Espi from Levante in a deal worth \u20ac25m, with Fabrizio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1121787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8814],"tags":[160,1169,748,191883,393,163,4884,35553,1860,2922,122477,101,544,1061,100,16,15],"class_list":["post-1121786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-leeds","tag-all-the-news","tag-brighton","tag-britain","tag-confirmed-transfers","tag-england","tag-front-page","tag-great-britain","tag-hull-city","tag-leeds","tag-leeds-united","tag-popular","tag-premier-league","tag-real-madrid","tag-spanish-la-liga","tag-transfer-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117013736803995390","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1121786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1121787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1121786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1121786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1121786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}