Madrid, July 8 -- La Liga club Rayo Vallecano confirmed the signing of central defender Luiz Felipe.

The Brazil-born 28-year-old has one cap for Italy, and joins the Madrid outfit after rescinding his contract with French side Olympique Marseille.

The move sees him return to Spain after a busy few years, during which he made 27 league appearances for Real Betis in the 2022-23 season before joining Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad for over 20 million euros (23.5 million US dollars).

He spent two and a half seasons there before a disappointing spell at Marseille. Luiz Felipe is Rayo's first signing of the summer as the club prepares to play a preliminary round to qualify for the group stage of the Conference League, after finishing eighth ...