Six-time Champions League winner tipped to join Fulham on free transfer in latest Real Madrid link-up with Arbeloa

FULHAM could continue their Real Madrid splurge by bringing in club legend Dani Carvajal.

The white-half of west-London wouldn’t actually have to raid Real Madrid at all – the 34-year-old is on a free transfer after leaving the Bernabeu in the summer.

Carvajal departed Los Blancos as a four-time LaLiga champion and six-time Champions League winner – and those are only the headline honours.

He made 451 appearances at Madrid in addition to collecting a Euro 2024 winner’s medal with Spain during his spell.

He even managed to keep Trent Alexander-Arnold confined to the bench for large spells of last season before finally ending his 13-year Real Madrid career.

It’s fair to say Carvajal has a myriad of options, but he is yet to commit to another project.

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European football journalist Andy Brassell spoke to talkSPORT.com to assess the given options.

“Fulham seems like the obvious one,” he said, pointing to Carvajal’s former Madrid teammate Alvaro Arbeloa who is now in charge at Craven Cottage.

“It depends how long Arbeloa can hang onto his job, obviously, because it’s been a difficult start for him.

“But, I think the main difficulty I have with imagining Carvajal in the Premier League at this moment, is he’s not really had a pre-season with a club.

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“I think at 34, that is very difficult to get over, and even more so when you think that he would be expected to adapt to the Premier League as well.

“I could definitely see it happening at Fulham, if not Liverpool. We know Liverpool have had their issues at right-back of late. I can see it happening, I’m not sure it should be happening.

“I think for him to arrive at the pace after no pre-season is going to be extremely, extremely difficult for him.

“But, in terms of what he can actually bring and him as a leader, there’s just no argument really. He’s as good as it gets, an absolute serial winner as well.

“And when you look at him and the moments where he’s really come up big for Real Madrid, like the opening goal in the 2024 Champions League final [against Borussia Dortmund], him just being an excellent right-back is only part of the equation.

“He’s got so much more to give and if you’re Fulham and Liverpool, because they’ve arguably lacked a bit since all the changes last summer, that leadership has got to be a huge part of the equation.

“Not just getting him to play every week, but getting him to bring up standards and be a leader in the dressing room.”

Arbeloa replaced the popular Marco Silva at Craven Cottage this summer and has lost all three of his opening Premier League games.

Saturday 12 September

Bournemouth