Fulham have completed the permanent signings of striker Gonzalo Garcia and attacking midfielder Cesar Palacios from bbc.co.uk on five-year contracts that run until the summer of 2031, with the club holding an option to extend both player agreements by an additional 12 months. The double deal represents a combined transfer fee of approximately £42.3 million (€50 million), featuring an initial reported fee of around £34 million (€40 million) for Garcia and roughly £8.5 million (€10 million) for Palacios according to hihi2.com. Both players arrived at Craven Cottage following a move on Monday, with Palacios’s arrival announced approximately 30 minutes after Garcia’s confirmation.
Fulham Secure Double Transfer Deal for Real Madrid Duo Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios
The transfers reunite the young Spanish talents with soccernews.com, who took charge of Fulham as head coach earlier this summer. Arbeloa previously worked with both players within Real Madrid’s youth set-up and first team before succeeding Marco Silva at Craven Cottage. Real Madrid retained a 30 percent sell-on clause and matching rights for both Garcia and Palacios as part of the agreements.
Inside Gonzalo Garcia’s Move to Craven Cottage
Gonzalo Garcia, 22, made 39 appearances for Real Madrid across all competitions last term, scoring eight goals—including six in La Liga featuring a January hat-trick against Real Betis—under Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso. The forward also earned his first senior cap for Spain in June and finished as the joint-top scorer at the Club World Cup last summer with four goals, matching Angel Di Maria, Serhou Guirassy, and Marcos Leonardo.
Garcia told FFCtv that he was very grateful and very happy to be there, adding that he had to thank the board and Arbeloa for the trust they had put in him and that he was very, very excited to start.
Fulham co-owner Tony Khan welcomed the addition, stating that the young striker is excited to play in the Premier League under Arbeloa’s leadership. The transfer marks Arbeloa’s first signing of the summer transfer window.
Cesar Palacios Completes Midfield Reinforcements
Twenty-one-year-old attacking midfielder Cesar Palacios joins his former teammate in west London after breaking into Real Madrid’s senior squad. Palacios made five appearances from the substitutes’ bench in La Liga and seven first-team appearances overall during the 2025-26 season following his senior debut in January, and he has also represented Spain at the under-20 level.
I'm very touched to be here, I think it's the ideal step in my professional career, the club shows great confidence in me, and I will show that on the pitch, Palacios said
Broader Squad Overhauls and Debut Prospects
The high-profile departures at Real Madrid—which saw Jose Mourinho appointed as coach to replace Arbeloa amid a squad overhaul following two consecutive trophyless seasons—paved the way for the young prospects to seek regular minutes abroad. At Craven Cottage, the acquisitions arrive alongside permanent additions like Jonah Kusi-Asare to bolster attacking options following the departures of free agents Harry Wilson and Raul Jimenez to Leeds United and Wolves respectively.
Both Garcia and Palacios could make their competitive debuts for Fulham on August 24, when the Cottagers face local rivals Chelsea in their soccernews.com season opener.
