Alvaro Arbeloa working to sign third Real Madrid player for Fulham | OneFootball

Earlier this week, Real Madrid finalise the double sale of Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios to Premier League side Fulham. Both players have reunited with ex-Los Blancos head coach Alvaro Arbeloa, and they may not be only players to swap the Bernabeu for Craven Cottage this summer.

It’s no surprise that Arbeloa has expressed strong interest in several Real Madrid players. He’s already landed Gonzalo and Palacios, but he has already eyed up further stars that he could be reunited with at Fulham, with one of them being midfielder Thiago Pitarch.

Fulham have been linked with Pitarch in recent weeks, but that was before the teenager suffered an injury that will sideline him until September. However, this has not deterred Arbeloa, with El Larguero reporting that a move will soon be made by the London club.

Pitarch exit makes sense for Real Madrid

If Real Madrid manage to get a deal done for Rodri, it would be extremely difficult for Pitarch to get any minutes during the 2026-27 season. Thus, it makes sense for an exit to be sought now, although it has been complicated by his injury.

Nevertheless, if it is indeed true that Fulham are prepared to go for Pitarch now, it would make sense for Real Madrid to let him go – as long as a deal is agreed that sees them retain a significant sell-on clause and/or a buy-back option, given that he could very well go to another level in the Premier League. He will be playing under a manager that knows him well, so there is every chance that he does get better and better.

It will be interesting to follow Pitarch’s situation over the next few weeks. For now, his focus will be on returning to full fitness as soon as possible, although it’s unclear whether he will be at Real Madrid or Fulham when he does make his comeback.