Real Madrid have moved fast to solve their number nine problem. With Gonzalo García on his way to Fulham, the club triggered Carlos Espí’s €25 million release clause at Levante within hours, tying the 21-year-old to the Bernabéu until June 2031.
Here’s what Real Madrid fans need to know about their new forward.
Who is he?
Carlos Espí Escrihuela was born on July 24, 2005, in Tavernes de la Valldigna, a small town on the Valencian coast. He joined Levante’s academy in 2022 from local side UD Alzira and made his
first-team debut in February 2024, aged 18, in a Segunda División fixture against Racing de Ferrol.
He was part of the group that helped drag Levante back into La Liga, contributing six goals in 36 appearances during the promotion campaign, but it was this past season, in the top flight, that he made his name with 11 goals in 13 starts, a Player of the Month award in March, and the league’s Best Under-23 Player prize. He is also a Spain youth international, capped at both U-19 and U-20 level.
At 6ft4in tall, he is a physical presence up top, a target man profile who fits the archetype of a modern number nine as much as a poacher.
Where does he fit?
Espí arrives as cover and long-term succession planning behind Kylian Mbappé, in direct competition with Endrick for the backup striker role. Nobody at the Bernabéu expects him to start regularly in year one, but the value is about what he offers three or four seasons from now.
His statistical profile suggests a player who thrives on aerial ability, physical duels, and finishing instinct rather than build-up play. His heading and long-shot threat stand out, while his passing and ball retention under pressure remain underdeveloped, which is still a fairly normal trade-off for a 21-year-old forward who spent last season in a counter-attacking Levante side, and it is exactly the kind of gap a move to a squad with more possession and craft around him should help close.
Who does he play like?
Espí is closer in build and instinct to a young Álvaro Morata than to Gonzalo García, whom he directly replaces on the depth chart. Like Morata at a similar age, he’s a big frame with genuine aerial quality and a nose for near-post finishes, still working on his link-up play and his movement in tight spaces.
There are also shades of the raw, unfinished Joselu who arrived at Madrid on a short-term deal and outperformed expectations largely on movement and finishing instinct alone. Espí has more physical upside than Joselu had at the same stage, and considerably more time to develop it.
Links to Real Madrid
Espí was already on plenty of radars before this deal came together. Everton, Leeds United, and Aston Villa had all been credibly linked with his release clause in England over the summer, with reports as recently as this week describing him as “on his way to the Premier League”. Real Madrid moving decisively enough to beat those clubs to a domestic talent, rather than losing him abroad, is itself a small subplot to the transfer.
He has also already stood on the Bernabéu turf in a Madrid shirt on the opposing side. He came off the bench for seven minutes in Levante’s January 17 league visit to the Bernabéu, replacing Kareem Tunde in the 83rd minute of a 2-0 defeat, Kylian Mbappé’s penalty and a Raúl Asencio header doing the damage that day. It was a minor appearance in a chaotic week for the club, played just days after Xabi Alonso’s exit and under the interim charge of Álvaro Arbeloa, but it means Espí’s first taste of Real Madrid’s ground came as an opponent rather than a new signing.
There’s a Spain youth connection too. Espí has come through the U-19 and U-20 setups alongside Thiago Pitarch, Jesús Fortea, Fran González, and Diego Aguado, several of whom are already inside Real Madrid’s youth pipeline or first-team fringes. That shared international background should smooth his integration into the dressing room and the Valdebebas environment more than a typical outside signing would.
Financially, the move is close to self-funding. Gonzalo García’s sale to Fulham for around €40 million comfortably covers the €25 million clause, generating a surplus rather than adding to net spend, and fitting the club’s recent pattern of recruiting proven young La Liga scorers rather than the biggest name available.
What’s been said about him
Levante’s coach Luis Castro, who arrived in December with the club bottom of the table and transformed their season, made Espí central to that turnaround. Under Castro, Espí went from a player who had never started a league match before February to the team’s top scorer with 11 league goals, a run credited as one of the two names, alongside Castro himself, behind Levante’s survival.
Castro kept faith in Espí over more experienced options like Cameroonian forward Etta Eyong once the young striker’s scoring streak began, a selection call that shaped the run-in.
Speaking about his forward, Castro said, “I’ve worked with a lot of very good, very young players. I’m not going to say how far Espí can go, because you’d tell me I’m crazy”.
