Fulham are closing in on their third signing from Real Madrid this summer. The London club have struck an agreement with the Spanish giants for young midfielder Manuel Ángel, brought in at the request of coach Álvaro Arbeloa, who keeps raiding his old "La Fábrica" academy for familiar faces.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano revealed that Fulham have reached a full agreement with Real Madrid to sign the 22-year-old midfielder.
Writing on X, Romano added that Real Madrid have approved the transfer while keeping a percentage of any future sale, along with a matching right should they want to bring him back. Those were the conditions the club set before waving him off.
According to Marca newspaper, Manuel Ángel has already landed in London to sign his Fulham contract. He becomes the third player to swap Real Madrid for the English club this summer after Gonzalo García and César Palacios, all part of the new project Arbeloa is building.
The newspaper noted that Arbeloa had first eyed Thiago Pitarch to reinforce his midfield. José Mourinho and Real Madrid stood firm, refusing to let Pitarch go, and that pushed the Spanish coach towards Manuel Ángel, his former captain in the youth ranks.
It has been a bruising summer for the player. Left out of the first team's plans in pre-season and frozen out of the Castilla side, he now gets a fresh start in England under a coach who knows exactly what he can do.