Chelsea confirm Thibaut Courtois move to Real Madrid with Mateo Kovacic joining on season-long loan
The Blues are now closing in on the £71m signing of Athletic Bilbao‘s goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, after the Spanish club announced that the 23-year-old had bought himself out of his contract
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Your support makes all the difference.Chelsea have confirmed the sale of Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid, subject to agreed personal terms and a medical, with the Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic moving the other way on a season-long loan. Madrid are expected to unveil the Belgium No 1 at the Bernabeu on Thursday after signing a six-year contract with the club.
Courtois failed to attend Chelsea training two days in a row after the Belgian international was due to report back from his post-World Cup holiday on Monday, leading to the club ramping up their attempts to find a long-term replacement.
The Blues are now closing in on the £71m signing of Athletic Bilbao‘s goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, after the Spanish club announced that the 23-year-old had bought himself out of his contract. Kepa is set to become the most expensive goalkeeper in the world, eclipsing the £65m that Liverpool paid Roma for Alisson last month.
A statement from Athletic Bilbao read: “On Wednesday, August 8, 2018 at 1202 hours (CET), the Professional Football League confirmed to us that the player, Kepa Arrizabalaga, has met the requirements for the valid unilateral termination of the work contract that linked him to Athletic Club. The amount of the compensation established in the contract has been deposited. Athletic thanks the player for his contribution during the time he has remained in our club.”
Asked on Tuesday for his impressions of the highly-rated Arrizabalaga, Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri responded: ”I saw him one year ago for Naples and my first impression that he was a very good goalkeeper, very young but very good.”
The 24-year-old Kovacic, who played a part in Croatia's run to the World Cup final this summer, joined Real from Inter Milan three years ago, and despite his exceptional ability he has struggled to hold down a regular place in the team.
The series of moves now throws the future of Keylor Navas into doubt, who had been Madrid’s first-choice goalkeeper in all of their past three Champions League title success.
The new Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui said this week: “I always say that I’m not talking about players who are not at Real Madrid. Keylor is our goalkeeper and there are no other goalkeepers I can talk about except Keylor, Kiko (Casilla), (Andriy) Lunin and Luca (Zidane).
“Keylor is phenomenal, he has our full confidence and is an extraordinary goalkeeper. He’s delighted to belong to Real Madrid and we’re delighted with him.”
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