Confirmed: Real Madrid full-back joins La Liga rivals

Confirmed: Real Madrid full-back joins La Liga rivals As expected, Fran Garcia has left Real Madrid to sign for La Liga rivals Real Betis in a permanent transfer. The Seville-based club announced the signing of the 26-year-old defender today, confirming that he has signed a four-year contract with the club until 2030. Real Madrid, too, have now confirmed the deal, with the following statement : “Real Madrid CF and Real Betis Balompié have reached an agreement for the transfer of our player Fran Garcia.” A whirlwind transfer Real Betis and Real Madrid had been in negotiations over a deal for Garcia for a while now, but everything happened swiftly today once the two teams reached an agreement. Garcia quickly completed his medicals and signed his contract, and is now officially a Real Betis player. While the statement does not mention it, Real Madrid will receive a fee of €4 million for the 50% economic rights of the left-back, which will be considered as a smart deal for a player in the final year of his contract at the club. With Los Blancos signing Marc Cucurella from Chelsea earlier this summer and Alvaro Carreras also staying at the club, it became apparent that Garcia had no place in new manager Jose Mourinho’s plans. The left-back now departs his boyhood club four years after he was re-signed from Rayo Vallecano, where he had a three-year stint. He leaves Real Madrid after making 110 first-team appearances across his two stints, during which he managed three goals and 13 assists. During this time, he won five titles: one Champions League, one Club World Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one La Liga title, and one Spanish Super Cup.