How Valencia beat Real Madrid to Armoni Brooks — inside the final 48 hours

The final chapter of one of this summer’s most turbulent EuroLeague transfer stories has been written. According to El Desmarque, Valencia Basket has reached an agreement to bring Armoni Brooks on loan from LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne for the 2026-2027 season — and the way it got done is the real story.

How Valencia closed the deal Real Madrid tried to steal

The backdrop is ASVEL‘s well-documented financial collapse. The French club’s budget was slashed from a projected €59 million down to roughly €24 million, forcing a broad exodus of players — including departures like Francisco and Theis — despite freshly signed contracts. Brooks had agreed to a two-year deal worth €2.3 million per season with ASVEL this summer, but never played a single game for the club before being made available for loan.

With Brooks back on the market, several clubs circled: Real Madrid, Valencia, and Partizan — the Serbian club eventually withdrew. MARCA had painted Real Madrid as the frontrunner, and for a time, that looked accurate.

Then came the final 48 hours. On August 3, transfer insider Matteo Andreani (@matty_vanpersie on X) reported that Valencia had submitted a significant offer and was close to finalizing a deal — with BeBasket cited as a confirming source on that reporting. At that precise moment, Real Madrid re-entered with a larger counter-offer, and everything was suddenly back open.

Despite the bigger number on the table from Madrid, Valencia got the deal done anyway. Why? The ACB’s non-EU player rules appear to have been a genuine obstacle for Real Madrid: slotting Brooks alongside Chuma Okeke and Damian Jones would have created a roster-construction headache that Madrid couldn’t easily solve. Valencia, by contrast, offered a cleaner path into the rotation and a more defined sporting role. The timing mattered too — Valencia’s offer was already far advanced when Madrid tried to jump in late, and Brooks and his camp had clearly bought into the project.

The player himself is no consolation prize. In EuroLeague 2025-2026 with Olimpia Milano, Brooks ranked third in the competition in 3-pointers made per game (2.7), shooting 41.6% from deep while averaging 13.1 points and 3.5 rebounds. The 28-year-old Waco, Texas native was a central figure in Milano’s Italian treble, earning Italian Cup MVP, All-League First Team, and Finals MVP honors along the way.

Valencia didn’t just win the race. They won it on their terms.