It has only been one match day in the Premier League, and another in the Carabao Cup, but Gonzalo Garcia has already started scoring for Fulham.
The Spanish striker scored in his first official game for Fulham in the 3-2 loss to Chelsea on Monday, and then as a substitute against Wimbledon. Even though Alvaro Arbeloa lost his first game in charge, Garcia was one of their highlights throughout the game.
The former Real Madrid striker was constantly using his physicality to his advantage, troubling Chelsea’s defense every time Fulham had a long ball launched into the half of Xabi Alonso’s side.
Chelsea obviously ended up winning, but it showed that Garcia might be playing with a healthy chip on his shoulder. His goal was scrappy, but it was still a goal. It is still something that he was able to achieve in one of the most difficult leagues in the world, and he did it without most of the creative power that Real Madrid players used to produce for him.
Gonzalo Garcia will play with a very healthy chip on his shoulder
It is also worth noting that this goal — in an impressive overall showing — was against a great team. Fulham won’t always be playing against the best teams in the league, and once Garcia adapts more and more to the footballing style of England, he will start playing even better.
That performance was a warning shot for Real Madrid. It is obvious that Garcia is ridiculously talented, which is why he probably would have wanted to find a starting spot at Real Madrid. So was, in a way, the one against Wimbledon, even though it came against a weaker opponent. Garcia still played really well in his few minutes on the pitch, and was able to beautifully get on the scoresheet.
He chose to leave for Fulham for a hefty fee of 40 million, and that, in a way, could have been to show Real Madrid what they are going to miss out on.
Obviously, the club has now signed Carlos Espi to replace him for 25 million euros, and the Spaniard also ended up scoring a goal in his first official game for the club, but this entire situation with Garcia’s sale would push the Fulham man to score more goals for them.
After all, whenever he was called upon — whether it was as a starter or off the bench — Garcia used to mostly deliver for the team. There were so many brilliant goals from the Spaniard, despite playing limited minutes, and he obviously would have wanted to show the club that he can do more as a starter for other teams.
Real Madrid retained 30% of his rights, so if he keeps playing this way, there is a chance he returns to the capital of Spain. Until then, I hope Garcia keeps firing away.
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