Spanish international striker José Luis Mato, known as “Joselu”, expressed his joy on Tuesday, the day after his recruitment by Real Madrid, admitting to having “dreamed” of such a return to the Madrid club, 11 years later.
“I’ve been dreaming of this moment since the day I left, I’m very excited,” said Joselu, who, at 33, is experiencing belated recognition at the highest level, during his official presentation. Trained at Celta Vigo, Joselu indeed played between 2010 and 2012 for the reserve team of Real Madrid, without managing to impose himself in the first team.
A native of Stuttgart, he then left to seek better fortune in Germany and then in England, before returning to Spain, where he ended up revealing himself during the past season by scoring 16 goals in 34 matches for Espanyol Barcelona. Although this did not prevent the Catalans from being relegated, these performances opened the doors to La Roja, for which he has scored three goals in four games since March.
Winner of the League of Nations on Sunday, after a decisive goal against Italy in the semi-final (2-1), Joselu was loaned for one season by Espanyol to Real Madrid, with an option to buy at the end of the latter for an amount estimated at 1.5 million euros by the Spanish press.
His arrival compensates position for position for the departure of captain Karim Benzema, who signed in early June in Saudi Arabia (Al-Ittihad). Real also lost in attack Marco Asensio and Mariano Diaz, additional players at the end of the contract.
During his presentation, Joselu, however, warned that he was coming with the pretension of replacing Benzema, a legend after 14 within ‘The White House’. “We all know Karim’s level at this club, but I’m here to do a different job,” he said, before continuing: “I’m going to give my all for this club, it’s the club of my life, when you enter the field, especially at the Bernabéu, you want to score goals”.
Joselu is the club’s fourth signing after the arrival of Englishman Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), defender Fran García (Rayo Vallecano) and the return of midfielder Brahim Díaz (AC Milan).