Carlos Espi: who is the Levante striker Real Madrid signed for €25m? | OneFootball

Real Madrid have paid €25m to sign Levante forward Carlos Espi, 21, after a spring surge that earned him La Liga’s under-23 player of the season. According to L'Équipe, the transfer was finalised on Thursday night on a five-year contract.

Espi will be in Mourinho’s squad to face Fiorentina on Saturday at 18:00. His arrival at a side now led by Jose Mourinho also traces back to Waldemar Kita’s December decision to dismiss Luis Castro at Nantes, Luis Castro then taking over at Levante 10 days later.

Castro quickly promoted Espi from the bench in a team widely expected to struggle. Handed his first Liga start on 18 February, then kept in the XI from 7 March, he scored 10 goals in Levante’s final 13 matches.

He won La Liga’s March player of the month and the season’s under-23 award, and helped Levante climb out of the bottom three to finish 16th.

Levante moved early to extend his deal with a €25m release clause, the sum Madrid paid. The former Spain under-20 international will replace Gonzalo Garcia in squad terms, with Garcia bound for Alvaro Arbeloa’s Fulham.

Two Premier League clubs, Hull City and Brighton, were close to signing him this summer before Madrid intervened and closed the deal within hours on Thursday. Espi, 1.94m, trained with his new team-mates at Valdebebas on Friday morning. The €25m fee is the biggest sale in Levante’s history for a homegrown player.

Source: L'Équipe