Real Madrid's Jesus Vallejo returns to Granada on loan

Real Madrid centre-back Jesus Vallejo has joined Granada on loan for the 2023-24 campaign.

The 26-year-old started his professional career with Real Zaragoza before moving to Real Madrid in 2015, but he has largely found it difficult to make his mark for the capital giants.

Vallejo has only featured on 31 occasions for Los Blancos in all competitions, with his most productive season proving to be 2017-18, when he made 12 appearances.

The centre-back only featured four times last term, though, including just one appearance in La Liga, with a number of players ahead of him in the pecking order at Bernabeu.

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David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger and Eder Militao are the three first-choice central defenders at the club, while Nacho is also ahead of him in that area of the field.

Vallejo has been linked with a permanent move away from Real Madrid this summer, but his contract with the club has another two years left to run.

As a result, it is a loan departure for the defender rather than a permanent exit, with Granada beating a host of other La Liga clubs to his signature on a deal until the end of next season.

Vallejo has had four previous loan spells during his time at Real Madrid, representing Zaragoza in 2015-16, Eintracht Frankfurt in 2016-17 and Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2019-20.

✍🏼 𝐎𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥: Jesús Vallejo (@JesusVallejo), nuevo jugador del Granada CF. #𝙀𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙝𝙖 🇦🇹 || #VallejoNazarí

— Granada CF ❤️⚪️ (@GranadaCF) July 15, 2023

Vallejo previously represented Granada on loan during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns, meanwhile, featuring on 51 occasions for the club.

The defender played 32 times in La Liga during his previous spell with the Andalusian outfit, and he will be bidding to help the team re-establish themselves in the top flight following their promotion from the Segunda Division.

Real Madrid have boosted their full-back options with the signing of Fran Garcia this summer, but it remains to be seen whether they will enter the market for a replacement for Vallejo.

The former Spain Under-21s international could be involved in Granada's first friendly of the summer against Getafe at the start of August.