Fran Garcia, an elite player for Rayo Vallecano, is set to return to his previous club Real Madrid in a huge transfer, hence Newcastle United will not be signing him

Fran Garcia, an elite player for Rayo Vallecano, is set to return to his previous club Real Madrid in a huge transfer, hence Newcastle United will not be signing him.

According to Fabrizio Romano, all the necessary documentation for a summer agreement between Rayo and Real has been finalized. As Romano sees it, Real will utilize their buy-back option on Garcia, which is only worth €10 million (£8.9 million).

But, Real had a sell-on provision in the contract that would reduce their final cost for the left back to €5 million (£4.45 million).

This means that Newcastle United will not be able to sign Garcia, who has agreed to a five-year contract with Real Madrid and who was previously being courted by the Magpies.

The Daily Mail reported in December that Newcastle was planning a January deal for Garcia. Newcastle’s attempts to sign Garcia during the January transfer window may have stalled due to Real’s right of buy-back.

After eight years with the club, Garcia finally achieves his wish and returns to Los Blancos to compete with Ferland Mendy. Although it is interesting that Newcastle had Garcia on their want list for the summer transfer window, the fact that they were interested in him at all is intriguing enough.

In 2022, the Magpies brought in not one, but two left-backs. Former Seagulls defender Dan Burn joined the club from Brighton & Hove Albion, while loan player Matt Targett from Aston Villa was made a permanent addition.

Both players have seen action this season, but it is understandable if Newcastle is looking to secure its left back of the future. At 23, Garcia was a player with tremendous promise who might have been a good match for Newcastle, but he is no longer an option. This summer, Newcastle is likely to spend more money on a player with a similar profile to Garcia, who was a bargain.