Real is about to beat Bayern in the race for Kepa
Marca newspaper on the evening of August 12 said that Kepa is about to join Real on a one-year loan contract with an option to buy. Some British newspapers also reported that the Spanish goalkeeper joined Real, but with a complete transfer contract.
Before choosing Real, Kepa was Bayern's top target. However, neither Chelsea nor the 28-year-old goalkeeper accepted the German team's offer of a one-year loan with an option to buy.
Real chose Kepa to fill the void left by Thibaut Courtois, the number one goalkeeper who had just broken the ligament of his left leg. According to initial reports, Courtois needs treatment until April 2024. Recruiting a top goalkeeper is essential for Real when the team has to compete for titles in all competitions and the reserve goalkeeper Andriy Lunin does not have much experience in the big playing fields.
Kepa joined Chelsea in 2018 from Bilbao, for $88 million. To this day, he still holds the record for the most expensive goalkeeper in the world. Kepa started regularly during his first two seasons with Chelsea, but fell out of favor under coach Thomas Tuchel. After regaining the starting position in the 2022-2023 season, he continued to return to the bench this season. Chelsea have just spent $ 25 million to buy goalkeeper Robert Sanchez from Brighton.
Kepa is likely to be Real's fifth rookie. Previously, the La Liga runner-up team spent $ 138 million to buy Jude Bellingham, Fran Garcia, Arda Guler and borrow Joselu.
If Kepa cannot be bought, Bayern will continue to have to urgently find a new goalkeeper. After suffering a skiing accident last December, Manuel Neuer has not been able to play again. Meanwhile, Bayern sold Yann Sommer to Inter Milan for $7.5 million, down 2.5 million from when bought from Moenchengladbach in January.
In addition to Kepa, Real and Bayern both have many other targets in the transfer market, including Yassine Bounou and David De Gea. De Gea is a free agent, after his contract with Man Utd expired in July.
