According to Marca, Fulham are targeting Real Madrid youngster Thiago Pitarch after signing Gonzalo and Cesar Palacios.

The relationship between Fulham, coached by Arbeloa, and Real Madrid in this summer's transfer market might be just that. After the deals for Gonzalo and Cesar Palacios are completed, Real Madrid will receive €50 million from selling 70% of the rights to these two forwards, and another Real Madrid target for the English club is Thiago Pitarch. Fulham will not stop focusing on Valdebebas after completing the "double signing" of Gonzalo and Palacios, and this young midfielder is their chosen one.

Progress on the Thiago Pitarch deal will be slower. Fulham are currently still working on signings for other positions and are also looking for other targets to strengthen the midfield, such as Shea Charles. Southampton's asking price for him is close to €30 million, and other clubs are also interested in him. In addition, Thiago Pitarch is recovering from a left knee injury and is expected to be out for several more weeks, which allows Fulham to proceed with his signing more calmly.

Fulham can proceed with the deal for this Real Madrid academy player relatively calmly because they have already received the player's "consent". Thiago Pitarch is very willing to reunite with Arbeloa and embark on his English adventure with former teammates Palacios and Gonzalo. There have already been initial contacts between the player's agent and Fulham, and the English club knows that there will be no problems from the player's side because he is very interested in this possibility.

With Arbeloa's departure from Real Madrid, the player's situation at Real Madrid changed after the departure of his biggest supporter. The academy player was originally supposed to be under Mourinho's command during pre-season, but the club's idea was to keep him in the Castilla squad. Although he was a regular starter in the final months of last season, the club had no plans to promote him to the first team. In fact, he outperformed players like Camavinga and Ceballos and played 16 times in the league and Champions League, many of them as a starter, including the entire knockout round against Manchester City and the first leg away against Bayern. In short, his role in the first team under Mourinho was not clear, so the player is very optimistic about the possibility of reuniting with Arbeloa and establishing himself in the top flight through the Premier League stage.

Thiago Pitarch is one of Arbeloa's most important discoveries. Arbeloa propelled him to the first team stage in just a year and a half, and his current market value is €20 million. On January 18, 2025, Arbeloa gave Thiago Pitarch his debut in the Real Madrid U19 A team. Eight months later, on September 14, Arbeloa gave him his official debut for Castilla. On February 17, 2026, it was Arbeloa who gave him his official debut for the Real Madrid first team. This is the "trilogy" between Arbeloa and this player, who is likely his most significant discovery during his time coaching at the Real Madrid academy. In just over a year, Thiago Pitarch made three dream debuts under the same "football father." Now, his transfer to Fulham could be the finishing touch to the connection between Arbeloa and Thiago.

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