A now former Real Madrid star announced his departure from the club through an emotional letter shared on social media.
Joselu will forever be a hero to Los Blancos fans thanks to his late double in last season’s Champions League semifinal second leg clash against Bayern Munich.
With Madrid target Alphonso Davies coming off the bench and stunning the Bernabeu with a thunderous strike that put the Bavarians 1-0 up on the night and 3-2 ahead on aggregate, it seemed that all was lost as the clock ran down towards full time.
In the 88th and 91st minutes, however, the Espanyol loanee struck a stunning brace which booked Carlo Ancelotti’s men’s place in a Wembley final against Bayern’s domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund.
Joselu formed part of a treble-winning squad in 2023/2024 and Madrid looked certain to buy him outright for $1.6 million (€1.5 million) then keep him around.
Yet with Kylian Mbappe and Endrick set to join a talent-packed squad in which Joselu was already struggling for minutes, the Spain international decided not to seek pastures new and has now announced his departure.
Madrid still exercised its right to buy the striker, but he now been sold on to Al Gharafa in the Qatar Stars League.
In an open letter, Joselu started by writing that “thank you” is “the best word and the most appropriate to express everything I feel at this moment, in which emotion and nerves hardly allow me to write”.
“Thank you Real Madrid for everything you have made me feel throughout my life. Outside and inside. Inside and outside.
“Thank you for what you taught me as a kid; Thank you for having given me so many examples of greatness and humility at the same time. Thank you for keeping my dream alive and making it come true,” a product of the La Fabrica academy wrote.
Joselu said thank you individually to President Florentino Perez, club CEO Jose Angel Sanchez, and “each and every one of the employees of the largest and most exemplary club”.
“Thank you coach for your way of understanding this game,” he also wrote to Carlo Ancelotti, plus the first team “for my being my family”.
“Thank you fans for so much passion, so much affection and that complicity that made us fly.
“Years ago I left but I never left. Today I’m also leaving but I’m actu
ally staying. Thank you,” Joselu concluded.