Real Madrid sent center forward Jacobo Ortega, 20, on Monday to French club Strasbourg, who recouped more than five times the transfer fee by dealing the contracts of two players to Ipswich.
Strasbourg, owned by Chelsea‘s holding company BlueCo, are under financial scrutiny from UEFA and their €13 million ($15m) fine in June for overspending was the biggest imposed by the European football body on any club last season.
The contract of Ortega, of Madrid’s academy, was worth a reported €10m ($11.6m) to help replace Paraguay forward Julio Enciso, who left Strasbourg for newly-promoted Ipswich, where he spent time on loan two seasons ago when the club were last in the Premier League.
Enciso started all five Paraguay games at the World Cup and scored against Germany in the round of 32. He also featured in an opening 4-1 loss to the United States and a testy and aggressive 1-0 loss to France in the round of 16.
Ipswich said they also signed Strasbourg’s 20-year-old midfielder Abdoul Ouattara, with the two deals reportedly worth a combined €50m ($58m).
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Enciso and Ouattara signed five-year contracts, Ipswich said, and reunite with coach Gary O’Neil, who was at Strasbourg for the second half of last season.
Strasbourg’s offseason transfer trading now shows a profit of about €80m ($92m), after being advised by UEFA to “significantly decrease” player costs in 2026.
Two significant transfers have been to parent club Chelsea, who signed Strasbourg captain Emmanuel Emegha and Argentina midfielder Valentín Barco.
Madrid did not provide any details about the deal for Ortega, who scored in the UEFA Youth League final against Club Brugge in Lausanne last season. After a 1-1 draw, Madrid won the title — effectively the Champions League for under-19 teams — in a penalty shootout.
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Strasbourg said Ortega, who never played for the Madrid first team, signed a five-year contract.
The French club also signed United States midfielder Giovanni Reyna from Borussia Mönchengladbach this month.
Strasbourg reached the UEFA Conference League semifinals last season and placed eighth in Ligue 1, but did not qualify for any of UEFA’s European competitions.
