Where does Cesar Palacios fit in at Fulham?
Jack Stroudley assesses the latest incoming from Real Madrid
Transfers are like London buses; you wait an age for one and two appear at the same time.
Fulham have continued in their raid of Real Madrid with the signing of Cesar Palacios. The 21-year-old has joined Alvaro Arbeloa’s as part of a combined package with striker Gonzalo Garcia, with a 30% sell-on clause for his former club Real Madrid.
It’s apparent to all that Fulham are in need of recruits and Palacios brings us up to three for the summer, but where will he fit in?
The fact file
Cesar Palacios started his youth career for Numancia where he stayed for 10 years before being signed by Real Madrid in June 2020. He was promoted through the ranks of the Juvenil C and B team where he managed to score 16 times in 68 appearances over three seasons.
During this period, he suffered an ACL injury during a pre-season match with the first team against AC Milan. He made his return after nine months coming on for Real Madrid B against Marbella.
Alvaro Arbeloa was impressed with Palacios during his time managing the B team and gave him his senior debut in the Copa del Ray in defeat against second division side Albacete. Palacios featured five times off the bench for Real Madrid last season and played the last six minutes of a Champions League tie against Benfica.
Palacios has also featured for Spain at U19 and U20 level scoring on debut for the U19 side against Germany. He also featured in the European U19 Championship Team of the Tournament in 2023.
A deeper dive
It’s difficult to read into any stats during his professional career as he only played 81 minutes of league football for Real Madrid last season, so I’ve taken a look at his stats playing for Real Madrid B to understand what Arbeloa sees in Palacios. He predominately plays as an attacking midfielder but can also drift out to the left when needed.
As you may expect, I’ve not exactly watched much of Real Madrid B so am basing this analysis off of reports from different sites and scouts, but those said sites and scouts give encouraging signs.
What can we take away from this? Firstly, Palacios was one of the top performers in the division for goals and assists. Before he was involved with Arbeloa’s first-team, Palacios managed nine goals and two assists in 19 games and was directly involved in 38% of goals scored by Real Madrid B – not bad for an attacking midfielder. His progressive carries and pass percentage also indicate towards a player whose comfortable receiving the ball and driving at players as well as someone whose happy to sit and link-up play when needed.
The obvious concern here is his lack of defensive actions and duel win perecentage. Palacios is lightweight and does appear to get bullied off the ball quite easy and this is something that may go in his favour when trying to adapt to 1) more men’s football 2) more men’s football in the Premier League.
The photo above showcases just where you’d imagine Palacios will want to operate. In the middle of the park and drifting out left to help wingers (and Antonee Robinson/Sess) when needed. The run-in behind here shows he’s not afraid to take risks and get himself into good positions and ultimately score.
RealMadridFabrica posted about Palacios back in 2023 and gave a glowing review of Cesar. I won’t go through all the list and have linked here if you want a closer look but here are a few points to take away:
- Versatile can play in multiple positions.
- Has an innate sense of when to move and where to move.
- Very good and intelligent between the lines.
- Gets into goalscoring situations easily.
That’s all good, but where does he fit in? I’m not entirely sure another number 10 is what we need right now, especially given his lack of minutes. How long will he take to get up to speed? Does this signing mean that we may see King deeper? Does this signing mean that Smith Rowe may play wider?
One for the future?
I can’t see Palacios strolling up to Motspur Park, stealing the show and immediately locking down a place in the starting XI. But I think being around a coach he’s familiar with and playing in a new league will be good for Palacios. That Carabao Cup round two fixture in August feels like a perfect opportunity for him to show Fulham what he’s about and it’s clear he’s got a lot of development to go.
I think for the fee it’s a good signing; approximately £7m in this day and age is peanuts. It’s not like we’ve chucked £20m-£30m down on him and there’s a need for him to hit the ground running. My only concern is that I hope this isn’t seen by Arbeloa as a first-teamer from the get-go.
Regardless of this signing, Fulham still need bodies in midfield (albeit slightly deeper) and options out wide after losing Wilson and Chukwueze. Palacios’s position to begin with doesn’t feel too dissimilar to a youth player, good to have around, but not someone whose going to pull up trees… yet.
I think we're going to have to wait and see, really. Arbeloa knows him well and obviously has faith in him.
My main concern right now is that we NEED a center-back