Real Madrid have spent the better part of five years now attempting to fill a gaping hole in their squad. A player who can effectively fit the role of ‘backup striker’ has eluded them for over half a decade.
The last player to deputize Karim Benzema well enough for some fans to call for the Frenchman to be benched was Álvaro Morata in the 2016/17 season. To put things into perspective, enough time has passed since then for Morata to have gone from cult hero to a top enemy of Madridistas due to his allegiance with Atlético Madrid.
The struggle to fill the need
Following Morata’s departure, Real Madrid opted for the young Borja Mayoral to take over as the Benzema backup. The then-20-year-old however struggled to fill Morata’s shoes with the same goalscoring prowess, and Real chose to replace him the next season by re-signing another former La Fábrica product in Mariano Díaz.
Mariano had just come off of a stellar goalscoring season in Ligue 1 with Lyon, but he was not quite able to replicate that form in Madrid. This led to the board deciding to break the bank for one of Europe’s most highly touted strikers in Serbian star Luka Jović. Alas, not even Jović was able to realize at least moderate success in the role.
Since offloading Jović, Real Madrid have no longer tried to pursue an understudy for Benzema. Mariano is still at the club, but Carlo Ancelotti has preferred to use Rodrygo Goes as a false nine rather than to play the Dominican. In fact, even 18-year-old Castilla striker Álvaro Rodriguez has been selected over a fully fit Mariano on a few occasions.
The lack of a proper backup striker finally seems to have hurt Los Blancos though, as part of the reason for the lackluster conclusion to the current season can be pinned on the poor form, and perhaps fitness, of Benzema. A recent report suggests that the club’s board recognizes this, and are in the market for a striker. The candidate who has emerged – Espanyol sharpshooter Joselu. The question, why?
Joselu: One of Real’s Own
Some Madridistas may not be familiar with Joselu, but the club and the player are no strangers to each other. This is because Joselu was a key man in Real Madrid’s Cantera from 2010 to 2012. Having been signed from Celta Vigo at the age of 21, Joselu immediately had an impact on Castilla, ending his first season at the club as the B-team’s joint-top scorer – alongside none other than Álvaro Morata. The following year, Joselu was at the center of a historic season for Castilla, in which the team earned a rare promotion to the Segunda División. Joselu scored a total of 26 goals to finish as the Spanish third division’s top goalscorer.
Despite this impressive record, Joselu’s reward was limited to just two first-team appearances – one in each of his seasons at the club. This was because Real Madrid had an abundance of forwards at the time, with then-manager José Mourinho being able to rotate between Gonzalo Higuaín and Karim Benzema. Not to mention that Joselu had to compete with two of his own very talented Castilla teammates in Morata and Jesé Rodríguez for first-team opportunities.
Nevertheless, Joselu managed to make the most of the chances that Mourinho handed him as he scored in both of the two appearances that he made for Real Madrid. While his two goals came in a dead-rubber La Liga match and a Copa del Rey clash against a third-division side, Joselu demonstrated his hunger by scoring with less than 10 minutes left on the clock in both games. An interesting coincidence is that on both occasions, he was substituted for Karim Benzema. Over a decade later, we could see the Benzema-Joselu substitution occur for the third time.
Return to LaLiga following stints abroad
In 2012, Joselu was signed from Real Madrid by Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim. Throughout the next three years, Joselu would go on to play for two more Bundesliga clubs in Eintracht Frankfurt and Hannover 96 before heading to the Premier League in 2015 to join Stoke City. Joselu never quite hit his stride in neither Germany nor England, although well-known former Stoke City manager Mark Hughes described him as a technically sound forward with good link-up play and likable movement.
His first visit to the Bernabéu since departing from Madrid came in 2016 while he was on a loan stint with Deportivo La Coruña. This match turned out to be quite memorable for Madridistas as a last-minute goal from Sergio Ramos completed a late comeback for Real Madrid that ended up being crucial to their La Liga title victory that season. Perhaps a less memorable fact about that match is that it was none other than Joselu who scored a brace in just two minutes coming off of the bench to put Los Blancos 2-1 down.
Those two goals were far from the last that Joselu would go on to score against his former club. Following an additional stint in England with Newcastle United after his Deportivo La Coruña loan expired, Joselu finally made a long-term return to La Liga in 2019 when he signed a three-year deal with Deportivo Alavés.
In 2020, Joselu scored the winner in a historic victory for Alavés against Real Madrid – their first at the Bernabéu since 2000. He scored both home and away against Real that season, which is a feat he has repeated in the current campaign with Espanyol. In total, Joselu has scored 8 goals in 10 appearances against Real Madrid.
Breakout season with Espanyol
Joselu joined Espanyol as a free agent last summer, in what proved to be an excellent piece of business from Espanyol as he has had the best season of his career so far. Having netted 16 goals and counting this La Liga campaign, he currently sits in third on the scoring chart behind two of the very best strikers of this generation, Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema. Most notably, at the moment he stands as the highest-scoring Spanish player in the league this year.
Something that makes Joselu’s feat this season particularly unique is the fact that he’s pulled it off playing for a now-relegated side. Espanyol, currently sitting second-bottom of the table with one match to go, have just had their relegation from La Liga confirmed. With Joselu hardly at blame considering he was consistent enough to score in nearly half of his league appearances, it can be considered even more impressive that he pulled off such a goalscoring record alongside teammates who seemingly weren’t up to par.
Describing his performances this year, Ruairidh Barlow of Football Espana describes Joselu as a ruthless presence in the box with instinctive finishing, but also capable of holding up the ball and linking attacks. His ranking in a high percentile among La Liga forwards in the stat of touches inside the opponent’s penalty area is indicative of this.
Contrary to Benzema’s style of dropping deep to involve himself in linkup play, Joselu offers an alternative approach of fighting to maintain the ball in the box and is able to send out passes from there. Where Joselu truly shines however is in the air – very few players in Europe’s top five leagues this season have had more success in aerial duels than him.
The Spaniard’s achievements this year earned him his first national team call-up back in March for Euro 2024 qualifier matches. Making his maiden senior international appearance against Norway just a couple of days before his 33rd birthday, Joselu was Spain’s oldest debutant since 2006.
In what seems to be typical Joselu fashion, he scored yet another two-minute brace to help Spain beat Norway 3-0.
An ideal fit for Real Madrid?
Given the average age of Real Madrid signings over recent years, there will be more than a few Madridistas unsatisfied with the idea of signing a 33-year-old player. Additionally, there is likely to be a portion of the fanbase this summer looking to bring the Benzema era to an end by signing a new superstar striker. Many fans have had Harry Kane’s name on their lips, and some even believe the board should swallow their pride and make yet another attempt at bringing Kylian Mbappé to the Spanish capital. Roberto Firmino is also being considered as a free agent who offers a similar playstyle to Benzema with his ability to drop deep and act as a playmaker.
It is fairly safe however to assume that the idea of replacing Benzema is an unrealistic one. Considering that Benzema is most likely to remain Real Madrid’s starting striker in the upcoming season, the annual conundrum of trying to find a striker who has enough quality to don the white shirt, but is humble enough to accept being on the bench, presents itself once again.
If Madridistas are skeptical about Joselu as a solution, they are urged to find another striker in Europe who has scored more than 15 goals but will still happily serve as a backup. The fact that Joselu has done it in La Liga, rather than Ligue 1 or the Bundesliga, might also serve as an indicator that he could succeed where Mariano and Jović failed. Additionally, Espanyol’s relegation will inevitably serve to lower the price tag that they can afford to demand for Joselu.
The long-term plan at Real Madrid seems to be for Brazilian teenager Endrick to be Benzema’s eventual successor. This requires Benzema to last long enough for Endrick to reach the age where he can make his debut.
At the moment, Benzema’s longevity may be in jeopardy. What Joselu offers as a short-term solution is an aid for Benzema to keep pushing until Endrick is ready. Joselu might only last a couple of years at best if Real Madrid actually do sign him, but that will not stop him from being valuable – especially if he can also serve as a mentor for another teenage striker at the club and fellow Castilla graduate in Álvaro Rodriguez.
A player with a 100% scoring record for the club, and an 80% scoring record against it, is a player worth taking a gamble on.
Canada’s biggest Madridista, diehard Real Madrid fan since the age of 7. Also a fan of La Liga in general, and increasingly getting interested in Japanese football.