MADRID: Real Madrid has signed goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga on loan from Chelsea to help make up for the absence of the injured Thibaut Courtois, the Spanish club said Monday.
Kepa's signing comes four days after Courtois tore a ligament in his left knee during training. The injury will sideline the Belgian international for most of the season.
Kepa arrives on a contract until the end of the season and will join a squad that already included Ukrainian Andriy Lunin, a reserve to Courtois who on Saturday started in the 2-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in the team's Spanish league opener.
It wasn't immediately clear if Spanish international Kepa would arrive as a starter. Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti previously said he had full confidence in the 24-year-old Lunin, who is entering his fourth season with the club.
Kepa had been in talks to join Bayern Munich but the deal fell through after Madrid showed interest in signing the 28-year-old player.
Bayern chief executive Jan-Christian Dreesen said Sunday the German club had hoped to bring Kepa in for Manuel Neuer, who hasn’t played since the World Cup after breaking his leg while skiing on vacation.
Kepa became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper when he was signed by Chelsea in 2018 for 80 million euros (then $93 million). He arrived then to replace Courtois, who was leaving for Madrid.
The 31-year-old Courtois has been a pillar of Madrid’s success since he left Chelsea. He helped win the Champions League in 2022, the Spanish league in 2020 and 2022, and last season’s Copa del Rey.
Madrid on Saturday also lost defender Éder Militão because of a serious knee injury sustained in the opener in Bilbao.