Real Madrid have confirmed the signing of striker Carlos Espí from Levante, activating the €25 million release clause in his contract. The 21-year-old has put pen to paper on a five-year deal that ties him to the Santiago Bernabéu until June 2031. The move was completed on 30 July 2026 and stands as the biggest sale of a Levante academy graduate in the club's history.
Madrid moved for Espí as a direct replacement for Gonzalo García, who left for Fulham in a separate deal worth around €40 million. Reports in Spain suggest new head coach José Mourinho pushed for the signing personally, wanting a tall, physically dominant centre-forward he can turn to when games need a different kind of threat in the box. At 1.94m, Espí gives Madrid an aerial and back-to-goal option that neither Kylian Mbappé nor Vinícius Júnior really provide, and he arrives alongside Endrick as competition and cover through the middle rather than as a guaranteed starter.
For Levante, it is a significant loss. Espí only joined the club's youth setup in the summer of 2022 and made his first-team debut in February 2024, but he progressed quickly enough to become their most important forward inside two years. He was reportedly close to a move to Brighton before Madrid stepped in once his release clause became known, underlining how quickly his stock had risen.
His form over the past year explains the interest. Espí was a key figure as Levante won promotion from the second tier, then went on to score 11 goals in 25 La Liga appearances last season as the club stayed up, including a run of goals in the closing months that proved decisive in their survival. He was named La Liga's best Under-23 player for the campaign and picked up a Player of the Month award along the way. In total he scored 20 goals in 66 appearances across three seasons at the club, and he is rated as one of the best headers of the ball in the division.
At Madrid, he is unlikely to walk straight into the starting XI given the attacking talent already at the club, but he offers Mourinho a genuine tactical alternative: a target man who can lead the line against low blocks or come off the bench to change a game's shape. How much game time he gets early on will depend on how Mourinho balances his squad, but the profile — young, powerful, prolific in the air, proven in a relegation fight — is exactly the kind of squad depth Madrid have been light on.