Real Madrid Loan Chelsea’s Kepa as Thibaut Courtois Replacement After ACL Injury
Spanish giants, Real Madrid have finally confirmed and made official the signing of their brand new goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga on a loan deal from Premier League club Chelsea.
Kepa joins Real Madrid on Loan from Chelsea
The loan deal for Kepa by Real Madrid came as a hasty deal after their first-choice goalkeeper and club icon, Thibaut Courtois accidently picked up an injury of ACL tear previously last week.
According to the latest reports, Thibaut Courtois is being rumoured to not be available and fit to play for the Los Blancos for about seven months. Their backup option, Andriy Lunin might be starting for Madrid in the coming matches, who also started in their 2-0 win against Athletic Club.
Previously, the 28-year-old Kepa had almost joined Real Madrid from Athletic Club back in January of 2018; however, a change in decision was made and Madrid chose to sign Thibaut Courtois later.
Kepa was then signed by Chelsea in a transfer fee worth €80 million ($87.6m) as a replacement for Thibaut Courtois as their goalkeeper.
The Spanish international had a struggling five years playing at the Stamford Bridge. Despite being the first choice goalkeeper for the first two seasons with Chelsea, he went on to lose his starting place in the squad to Edouard Mendy, even though he later regained his position later in 2022/23 season.
Real Madrid signs Kepa on loan as Courtois replacement
After the decision of Kepa’s departure had been made, the Blues decided to sign Kepa’s country teammate, Robert Sanchez as their new number 1 last week itself from Brighton.
After the injury of Courtois was identified as a long-term injury, Madrid made the quick decision of signing an experienced goalkeeper as a replacement instead of depending on their second choice for such an extended period of time.
According to the rumours, Kepa had come really close to signing for Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich; however, he had immediately put that on hold as soon as he figured that his need might be felt at the Santiago Bernabeu.
