Real Madrid have confirmed the signing of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
The Spanish side lost starting goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to an ACL injury last week, just days before centre-back Eder Militao suffered the same fate.
After talks over Sevilla’s Yassine Bounou hit a wall, Madrid focused their offers on Kepa and have now completed a loan move for the Chelsea stopper.
Kepa had been targeted by Bayern Munich and former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel but Madrid’s interest in a loan deal moved incredibly quickly over the weekend and they have now announced his arrival.
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“We were close and in fact we wanted to introduce Kepa today,” Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said on Sunday. “But he is Spanish and he chose Real Madrid.”
Chelsea have already been active in the goalkeeper market this summer, selling Edouard Mendy to Al Ahli and replacing him with Brighton’s Robert Sanchez.
Sanchez was expected to compete with Kepa for the starting spot but was thrown into Mauricio Pochettino’s first lineup on Sunday after Chelsea accepted Madrid’s offer.
As a result, Chelsea are expected to turn back to the transfer market to find a replacement for Kepa.
The Blues are long-term admirers of Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili, who was also a target for Real Madrid. Porto’s Diogo Costa is seen as too expensive at this point in the window.
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