Real Madrid player makes a ‘historic’ move, and Chelsea is now on high alert
One of Real Madrid’s rising stars has just made a big move during the final weeks of the transfer window—and even made some history along the way.
This summer, Real Madrid has been busy helping their returning coach, Jose Mourinho, by bringing in new players, especially experienced ones. They’ve signed Marc Cucurella from Chelsea, Bernardo Silva from Manchester City, and Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig for a club-record fee of €135 million.
But the club hasn’t only been focused on arrivals—they’ve also been letting some talents leave. Gonzalo Garcia, a graduate of Real’s Castilla team, has joined Fulham in the Premier League for about £34 million. Another former academy player, Cesar Palacios, also moved to Fulham for around £8.5 million. Both players are now working with their old Castilla coach, Alvaro Arbeloa, at Craven Cottage.
Real Madrid included buy-back options in both deals, giving them the chance to bring the players back next summer if they want. This is a common strategy the club uses to let young players get more playing time elsewhere and then possibly re-sign them later, either to join the first team or to sell for a higher price.
This time, they took a slightly different approach with their latest academy product. 20-year-old winger Jacobo Ortega moved to Strasbourg in France for €10 million, with Real keeping 30% of any future sale. Ortega played for Real Madrid’s B team between 2024 and 2026, and this transfer is now the highest fee Real has ever received for a player who has never appeared for the senior team.
Interestingly, Strasbourg is partly owned by BlueCo, the same group that controls Chelsea. This could mean Chelsea is keeping an eye on Ortega as a possible signing in the future.
Chelsea has been linked with Strasbourg through a few transfers lately. They signed midfielder/left-back Valentin Barco from Strasbourg this summer. Last year, they also agreed to bring in striker Emmanuel Emegha from the club. Meanwhile, Strasbourg has taken centre-back Aaron Anselmino and striker David Datro Fofana on loan from Chelsea.
Barco first joined Premier League club Brighton in January but only played seven times before being loaned to Sevilla and then signing permanently with Strasbourg. One reason Brighton let him go was because of his lack of physical strength, and it’s still unclear if he’s improved in that area over the past two years.