Kepa Arrizabalaga joins Real Madrid on loan from Chelsea after Thibaut Courtois suffered a season-ending ACL injury

Real Madrid have signed Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga on loan until the end of the season.

His presentation as a Real Madrid player will take place tomorrow afternoon.

It comes after Thibaut Courtois suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in training that could rule him out until the end of the season.

The injury to their number 1 leaves Los Blancos short in the goalkeeping department with 24-year-old backup Andriy Lunin as the only other option, so Kepa is likely to go straight into the team.

Kepa was missing from Chelsea’s opening draw with Liverpool and new signing Robert Sanchez started between the sticks for the Blues.

Real had a list of eight potential replacements, including Sevilla’s David de Gea and Yassine Bounou, but opted for 28-year-old Kepa after Chelsea cleared him to leave.

Kepa has done well to rebuild his reputation in football after a mixed spell at Chelsea.

He joined from Athletic Bilbao in 2018 for £72 million – a world record fee for a goalkeeper.

Halfway through his first campaign in England, he caused a storm when he spectacularly refused to beat penalty specialist Willy Caballero in the League Cup final, defying Maurizio Sarri’s instructions and enraging the Italian boss. Chelsea lost to Manchester City on penalties.

After a few seasons as Chelsea’s number 1, he lost his place when Edouard Mendy arrived in 2020 and made just 11 league appearances between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.

Last season, however, he regained his place in the team and relegated Mendy to the bench, giving him one of the save percentage bets in the league.