On the afternoon of June 19, Beijing time, La Liga Real Madrid officially announced that it had reached an agreement with Espanyol that Espanyol player Joselu will join Real Madrid on loan in the new season, and the loan period will end on June 30, 2024.
The 33-year-old José Lu is a 1.92m centre-forward from Real Madrid's youth team Castilla, who made two appearances and scored two goals after being promoted to the first team in 2011. Since then, Joselou's career has split between Hoffenheim, Eintracht Frankfurt and Hannover in the Bundesliga, Stoke City and Newcastle United in the Premier League, Deportivo and Alavés in La Liga.
This season, Joselu played for Espanyol, where he made 34 league appearances, 33 of them starts, scoring 16 goals and assisting 2 times, finishing behind Lewandowski and Benzema in the top scorers list and winning the La Liga bronze boot. At the end of the season, Espanyol were relegated to the second lowest place.
Joselou is also an active Spain international, who was selected for the new national team and played in the semi-finals and finals of the UEFA Nations League. In the UEFA Nations League semi-finals, Spain beat Italy 2-1, with substitute Joselu scoring the winning goal before the end. In the final against Croatia, Joselu came off the bench in the second half and won the UEFA Nations League with the team's penalty shoot-out victory over Croatia.
At the end of this season, Real Madrid's forward team was reduced by four at the same time, Benzema joined Saudi side Ittihad on a free agency, Asensio moved to Paris Saint-Germain when his contract expired, Mariano left the team at the end of his contract, and Eden Hazard released his contract a season early. In such circumstances, Real Madrid urgently need to bring in strikers.
Real Madrid's official social media revealed that the club will hold a welcome ceremony at the sports city Joselu at 17:00 Beijing time on June 20. Before that, Real Madrid recalled Brahim Dias from Milan and signed Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund. Real Madrid president Florentino has revealed that after signing Joselou on loan, Real Madrid will not be signing this summer.