Kepa Arrizabalaga: Real Madrid sign Chelsea goalkeeper on season-long loan - BBC Sport
Close menu

Kepa Arrizabalaga: Real Madrid sign Chelsea goalkeeper on season-long loan

Last updated on .From the section European Footballcomments384

Kepa Arrizabalaga playing for Chelsea in a pre-season friendly
Kepa Arrizabalaga played for Chelsea during their pre-season US tour

Real Madrid have signed Spain goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea on a season-long loan.

The 28-year-old will cover for Madrid's regular number one Thibaut Courtois, who will miss most of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Kepa has made 163 appearances for Chelsea since joining from Athletic Bilbao for £71m in August 2018 - the highest fee ever paid for a goalkeeper.

He faced competition at the Blues from summer signing Robert Sanchez.

Fellow Spaniard Sanchez, a £25m arrival from Brighton, started Sunday's Premier League opener against Liverpool.

Chelsea sold Senegal international goalkeeper Edouard Mendy to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli earlier this summer.

Kepa's exit leaves 31-year-old Marcus Bettinelli as the only other senior goalkeeper in their squad, alongside 20-year-old Lucas Bergstrom and 19-year-old Eddie Beach.

Real Madrid opened their campaign with a 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, with England midfielder Jude Bellingham, an £88.5m summer arrival from Borussia Dortmund, among the scorers.

Comments

Join the conversation

These comments are now closed.

384 comments

  • Comment posted by liverpool supporter right here, at 12:38 14 Aug 2023

    Chelsea to hijack the Kepa deal by offering him to triple his wages

  • Comment posted by Johnny_Lee, at 12:24 14 Aug 2023

    What if he just... refuses to leave?

    • Reply posted by hackerjack, at 13:29 14 Aug 2023

      hackerjack replied:
      Why would he? same wage and regular football, at least for a while.

  • Comment posted by oxign, at 12:26 14 Aug 2023

    He will forever be remembered for the Wembley fiasco.

    • Reply posted by jamois, at 14:33 14 Aug 2023

      jamois replied:
      He will only be remembered for it!

  • Comment posted by Dreddy Tennis, at 12:21 14 Aug 2023

    Kepa's agent is possibly the finest to grace sporting history.

    • Reply posted by Johnny_Lee, at 12:25 14 Aug 2023

      Johnny_Lee replied:
      Remember when Jonathon Woodgate's agent once got him a gig at Real Madrid?

  • Comment posted by Star Booty, at 12:29 14 Aug 2023

    He's a decent goalkepa

    • Reply posted by AustinBrock, at 13:37 14 Aug 2023

      AustinBrock replied:
      No pls.

  • Comment posted by KMcV, at 13:24 14 Aug 2023

    According to Opta the only regular GK not to make an error leading to a goal n the PL last season was Arrizabalaga. And one of the highest save percentages.

    • Reply posted by The Spin Doctor, at 14:08 14 Aug 2023

      The Spin Doctor replied:
      And how many errors up until start of last season? Plenty I bet!

  • Comment posted by Andrea Casula 11, at 12:37 14 Aug 2023

    Im so glad he is off, should give the defenders a bit more confidence and belief .

    From the minute he signed for £72m i had doubts he would ever live up to that fee. Capable of a world class save one minute then let in three stinkers .

    • Reply posted by The Spin Doctor, at 14:06 14 Aug 2023

      The Spin Doctor replied:
      Does he know that RM will not let him take any penalties?

  • Comment posted by Vox Populi, at 13:15 14 Aug 2023

    I'm surprised De Gea is still a free agent. I mean...the guy is a proven top keeper. He's better than Kepa. Is it his wage demands? Ten Hag wants a sweeper-keeper, that's the only reason he's out the door. De Gea would be an excellent keeper for many top clubs. There's a lot of clubs with fans who like to spout whose keeper position would be much strengthened with De Gea.

    • Reply posted by Cardigan McBardigan, at 13:21 14 Aug 2023

      Cardigan McBardigan replied:
      Are you on 10%?

  • Comment posted by APB, at 12:36 14 Aug 2023

    Siri, show me a picture of 'failing upwards'...

    • Reply posted by ReMo, at 14:12 14 Aug 2023

      ReMo replied:
      😂very good.

  • Comment posted by be77yadb, at 12:22 14 Aug 2023

    Chelsea playing prime Football Manager

    • Reply posted by AC, at 14:57 14 Aug 2023

      AC replied:
      If they are, they're about to sign Vandervoort or Lafont to compete with Sanchez.

  • Comment posted by Robert Robinson, at 12:19 14 Aug 2023

    That’s another big earner off the payroll and will receive a decent loan fee.

    • Reply posted by shuaib, at 12:24 14 Aug 2023

      shuaib replied:
      is True bro

  • Comment posted by blade_of_truth, at 12:50 14 Aug 2023

    Don’t try and sub him off whatever you do

    • Reply posted by The Spin Doctor, at 14:06 14 Aug 2023

      The Spin Doctor replied:
      Or let him take any penalties!

  • Comment posted by Ben, at 12:21 14 Aug 2023

    Solid keeper and good shot stopper but didn't seem to have much authority when the ball was in the air and too cautious when coming out his 6 yard box. Wish him the best though, couldn't help but like him.

    • Reply posted by Chelsea1967, at 14:52 14 Aug 2023

      Chelsea1967 replied:
      Too slow at coming off his line and gave he back four no confidence

  • Comment posted by Duff, at 14:13 14 Aug 2023

    Time for Kevin Hitchcock to finally come off the bench

    • Reply posted by pigpog, at 16:04 14 Aug 2023

      pigpog replied:
      Loyal servant. Safe pair of hands and keen cricketer.

  • Comment posted by Arken, at 17:08 14 Aug 2023

    Only Chelsea could spend £170million on Kepa and Lukaku.
    And then have to loan them out!

  • Comment posted by sickbeggar, at 12:20 14 Aug 2023

    Good luck to him. Good showstopper but you never feel safe when he's between the sticks unfortunately.

    • Reply posted by dav3yb0y, at 12:35 14 Aug 2023

      dav3yb0y replied:
      Paul Hollywood was impressed with his show stopper, didn't rate his Hot Cross Buns tho ... :D

  • Comment posted by Phoenix711, at 12:25 14 Aug 2023

    Don’t get this. Sanchez looked shakey at times so they 100% need another keeper for competition. Where will they get the money from?

    • Reply posted by bluelee, at 13:23 14 Aug 2023

      bluelee replied:
      By selling ziyech, odoi, lukaku , chalobah

  • Comment posted by Robert Robinson, at 14:01 14 Aug 2023

    A lot of comments on the League Cup Final.

    My take was that it was a misunderstanding, not a refusal to be subbed.

    He’d just been down injured before the attempted substitution. I think he was just saying, no I’m fine and don’t “need” to be subbed.

    If Sarri wanted to sub him tactically for the penalties he should have calmly told the captain to go talk to him.

    • Reply posted by D1707389277921, at 14:07 14 Aug 2023

      D1707389277921 replied:
      Its just very typical of 2023 that there are some who want to punish someone in perpetuity for an error of judgement from 4 years ago instead of accepting it was a mistake, that he is human and that everything before and since that incident suggests he is a good character and professional

  • Comment posted by LoveFootball, at 12:19 14 Aug 2023

    I was never really a fan. Good luck to him.

  • Comment posted by Garth Crooks Scorers of the Week, at 12:27 14 Aug 2023

    Don't understand this, it's a step down in quality in the GK position for Chelsea. They must be getting a decent loan fee surely

    • Reply posted by nickm73, at 13:42 14 Aug 2023

      nickm73 replied:
      Agreed but as Poch said if he doesn’t want to be at Chelsea then he should go

Elsewhere on the BBC

Also in Sport