Spanish giants Real Madrid has reached a verbal agreement to sign goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga on a season-long loan deal. Both teams are now taking care of the final details before completing the signing.
Real Madrid was tirelessly looking for a goalkeeper before the start of the season. This was after Thibaut Courtois suffered an injury during a pre-season match a few days ago.
Chelsea has already signed Brighton‘s Roberto Sanchez. This in turn means that Kepa might not have always been preferred as Chelsea’s no. 1 and would have faced competition from the fellow Spaniard goalkeeper.
Kepa is joining Real Madrid from Chelsea on a loan deal, per @FabrizioRomano 🧤 pic.twitter.com/Ad35Y3dIT6
— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 12, 2023
Real Madrid is reportedly ready to pay $9.98 million to the goalkeeper for the whole season. The deal is said to be a loan deal with no buy option included.
Kepa was also reportedly in talks with Bayern Munich who are also finding a replacement for Manuel Neuer who is also injured after a skiing accident. But it seems he chose Madrid over Bayern and is now on the verge of returning to his country for the upcoming season.
How much did Kepa Arrizabalaga earn at Chelsea?
Kepa Arrizabalaga currently has a salary of $10.1 million at Chelsea. The player signed a seven years contract in 2018 and it is scheduled to expire in 2025. Kepa has often played a very pivotal role in Chelsea’s squad for the past few years. He has although seen his fair share of downtime. Over the years, Kepa played 163 matches for Chelsea and concede 175 goals, and managed 59 clean sheets.
Ever since Frank Lampard’s second stint at the club, Kepa was back in the first team as he was preferred by the manager over fellow teammate Edouard Mendy. Earlier in this transfer window, Mendy was sold by Chelsea to Saudi club Al Ahil.
Kepa came to Chelsea from Spanish side Athletic Bilbao for a fee worth huge $90.6 million. This was one of the biggest transfers for any goalkeeper.
Prior to this transfer, Kepa represented Athletic Bilbao on 54 occasions. He conceded 66 goals and had 15 clean sheets during this run. Over the last 5 years, Kepa has won a Europa League, One Champions League, one European super cup, and one club world cup. So the move to Real Madrid will make his second stint in the Spanish league.