In July 2022, an unknown 32-year-old Spain center forward joined Spain on a free transfer from Alaves for $0.
Even Zai Niu's script may not have imagined that in just 2 years, the 191-tall center forward will "leap into the dragon gate" one after another, during which he not only joined Real Madrid to win the Champions League, but also represented Spain in the European Cup final. This person is Joselu, who briefly teamed Wu Lei for a month.
In the summer window of 2022, Joselu, who came from Real Madrid's youth academy and moved to several smaller teams over the years, was spotted by Spain and joined the team on a free transfer due to his outstanding performance in the lower La Liga team Alaves in previous seasons.
Just a month later, Wu Lei, the leading striker of the national football team, chose to leave Spain and return to play for Shanghai Port in the Chinese Super League due to factors such as declining form and fierce competition within the team. In three and a half seasons with Spain, Wu Lei left 16 goals and 6 assists in 126 appearances. And Joselu's addition is the plan of the Spain top management to deal with Wu Lei's possible departure.
Joselu also lived up to the team's trust, and in the subsequent 2022/2023 season, he made 34 appearances for Spain in La Liga, scoring 16 goals and providing two assists, accounting for nearly one-third of the team's total of 52 goals. At the end of the season, despite the Spain's relegation, Joselu won individual accolades, finishing third in the season's scorer list behind Lewandowski and Benzema, and also won the Sala Award, which symbolizes the champion of homegrown goalscorers.
Due to his outstanding performance in Spain, on March 25, 2023, Joselu, who will turn 33 in two days, was favored by Spain national team coach De Furaente and won his first appearance for the national team at the age of 32 years and 356 days. Wearing the number 12 shirt of Spain, he did not come off the bench until the 81st minute in that game against Norway, but he scored twice in the space of four minutes to help Spain win 3-0. After the game, Joselu, who had fulfilled his dream, also cried with emotion.
But for Joselu, an even bigger surprise was yet to come. In the summer of 2023, due to Benzema's temporary decision to leave, La Liga giants Real Madrid loaned Joselu to the team for a cheap 500,000 euros, and the 33-year-old was able to return to his parent club after many years. Josélu has been outstanding throughout the season, making 49 appearances for Real Madrid, and although he has only started 18 of them, he still has 18 goals and three assists.
Compared to his loan fee of only 500,000 euros, which means that Real Madrid spent an average of only about 30,000 euros to score a goal from Joselu, it can be described as an extremely successful transaction. In particular, in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals at home to Bayern Munich, Joselu came on as a substitute when Real Madrid were down by one goal, and then scored two goals to help the team reverse and advance to the final, and finally lifted the Champions League trophy this season, achieving the great cause of 15 Champions League titles.
In this European Cup, Joselu, who already wore Spain's No. 9 shirt, also started against Albania in the final round of the group stage and made his debut in the tournament. He played 72 minutes, made 14 of 16 passes, won two of his five aerial duels, made one successful dribble and had three shots on goal, and was rated 7.0 after the game.
And during the European Championships, Joselu has also finalized his future. With the Spain promoted back to La Liga and the buyout clause between him and Real Madrid lapsed, the 34-year-old striker then signed a two-year contract with Qatar side Garafa Sport, with an annual salary of €8 million from €1.25 million at Real Madrid.
At 3 a.m. on July 15, Spain will face the European Championship final against England. Although Joselu is likely to miss the start, he is good at making contributions to the bench, and has the opportunity to appear when the game is stalemate, using his high-altitude advantage and point-grabbing efficiency to establish a miracle for the Spain team, and achieve a football story like a veteran.