Real Madrid's squad-list crisis has deepened after they announced the signing of young forward Carlos Espi. Los Blancos now need to free up new places if they want to complete their remaining major deals during the summer transfer window.
The club confirmed yesterday, Thursday evening, that they had struck an agreement with Levante to sign Espi on a contract running until 30 June 2031.
Press reports had earlier indicated that Gonzalo Garcia is on his way to English side Fulham, to play under his former coach Alvaro Arbeloa, leaving a vacant place.
Registering Espi has pushed Real Madrid's squad to the maximum permitted limit of 25 first-team players. That forces the management to move players on if they pull off the deals for Yan Diomande and Rodri, who top the club's priorities this summer, according to the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo".
A full squad
The team currently includes goalkeepers Thibaut Courtois and Andriy Lunin, along with 10 defenders: Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate, Eder Militao, Marc Cucurella, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alvaro Carreras, Antonio Rudiger, Raul Asencio, Ferland Mendy and Dean Huijsen.
In midfield, the squad includes Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni and Bernardo Silva.
The front line, meanwhile, features Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Gonzalo Garcia, Rodrygo, Endrick, Brahim Diaz and Franco Mastantuono.
Gonzalo's move to Fulham will let Espi slot into the squad. But the club will still have to offload another player if they sign one of the two main targets, Diomande or Rodri, and they will need to part with more if they manage to bring both in together.
Mastantuono's situation is no longer what it was
Franco Mastantuono's position complicates things further. The Argentine can no longer be registered as a reserve-team player, as he was last season, after exceeding the number of appearances permitted with the first team. He now occupies a full place in the squad.
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Beyond Mastantuono, Real Madrid face difficult decisions over the coming days. They must resolve the matter of departures before the transfer window closes if they want to complete their plans to bolster their ranks with their most prominent targets in the summer mercato.