Following Thibaut Courtois’ season-ending knee injury this week, Real Madrid have been in the market for a new goalkeeper, and they have decided on Chelsea and Spain stopper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Kepa has been set to leave the Premier League side, following their signing of fellow Spaniard Robert Sanchez. He had been in talks to join Bayern Munich, but he will now head to the Spanish capital.
The Bundesliga side’s CEO, Jan-Christian Dreesen, has effectively confirmed that Kepa will join Real Madrid, after discussing the circumstances surrounding his side’s previous pursuit of the 28-year-old.
Bayern CEO Dreesen ‘announces’ Kepa to Real Madrid: “We were close to this deal and we actually wanted to present Kepa today. But he chose to join Real Madrid”. 🚨⚪️ #RealMadrid
“He’s Spanish and so Kepa wanted to accept Real proposal”. pic.twitter.com/ftnOIylp7v
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 13, 2023
Kepa, who will join on a season-long loan deal, is expected to be first-choice keeper for Real Madrid, despite Andriy Lunin’s impressive showing against Athletic Club on Saturday evening. The Ukrainian international is not fancied by Carlo Ancelotti, so he will return to being a backup option.
Real Madrid will hope that Kepa can return to the form he showed whilst in Spain with Athletic Club, and if he can, it could be a very shrewd move.
