Shock at Real Madrid: Forward to leave this summer in favour of larger offer from Qatar | OneFootball

Real Madrid’s Champions League semi-final hero Joselu Mato is set to leave the club this summer, according to the latest in the Spanish capital. The 34-year-old has a fresh contract offer from Real Madrid for next season, but Los Blancos believe he is headed to Saudi Arabia.

Madrid-based outlet Diario AS are one of many reporting that Joselu will head to Saudi Arabia for a major pay day that multiplies his earnings at Real Madrid more than once. No team has been given, and they say that Real Madrid have been told nothing from his side of things, but that they interpret Joselu’s silence as a sign that he is on his way to the Middle East.

Carlo Ancelotti has spoken highly of Joselu, and Los Blancos will keep their offer on the table until the end of the month, when their buy option expires. Out of respect for Espanyol, they will not exercise the option and then look to make a profit on the veteran Spain international. It should allow Los Pericos to obtain a larger fee from Saudi.

The latest reporting from Relevo is that rather than Saudi Arabia, Joselu is headed to Al-Gharrafa in Qatar. This has been backed up by Cadena Cope.

While they say it is not a done deal, they strongly suspect his talks with Saudi Arabia are advanced. Even if Joselu has always said that his priority is to continue at Real Madrid, he is likely to be much shorter of opportunities with the arrivals of Endrick Felipe and Kylian Mbappe. In addition, much of Joselu’s career has not been at the elite level, and thus the money on offer would make a much larger difference to him and his family than the likes of Nacho Fernandez or Lucas Vazquez.