Bono, de Gea or Kepa. Who will replace the injured Courtois in the Real Madrid goal?

Real Madrid have a huge problem to solve. Thibaut Courtois tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during Thursday’s training session and two days before the start of the league, Real Madrid is without its key player. Who will replace him?

Goalkeeper is a post that Real didn’t have to deal with for a long time. Since the start of the new century, club legend Iker Casillas has had a solid position in goal, who was then replaced by Keylor Navas, who contributed to the Champions League hat-trick.

But in 2019, he was replaced by Thibaut Courtois, who has developed into the world’s best goalkeeper. At 31 years old, Real Madrid had hoped not to have to deal with this post for another 5-6 years or so.

But as fate would have it, Courtois has picked up a serious injury that will likely cause him to miss the entire season. And Real Madrid must urgently address the replacement for the goalkeeper position.

Andriy Lunin

The most economical option. Andriy Lunin came in as a great talent with the potential to push Courtois, only he hasn’t made it out of the number two position for the last three seasons. He’s been waiting for this chance, it’s just that when Courtois was injured last year and the Ukrainian goalkeeper played several games in a row, he didn’t quite convince that he could be the Madrid giant’s number one.

Real are reportedly deciding whether to trust Lunin and bring in just a substitute, or bring in a new number one and Lunin will stay as number two. However, everything points to the second option.

Bono

The fast action started immediately after Courtois’ injury and according to MARCA newspaper, the Moroccan goalkeeper is Real Madrid’s first choice. Bono is fantastic on the touchline, he has no problem with his crossing and he also has a lot of experience in La Liga.

Should Sevilla agree to sell him for around €20 million, Real Madrid would reportedly not hesitate. Bono would become only the second Moroccan player to start for Real Madrid after Achraf Hakimi.

David de Gea

David de Gea would already be catching at Real Madrid if the fax machine hadn’t failed eight years ago and his replacement for Keylor Navas had been caught in time. But now he has ended up at Manchester United and is a free agent.

The Madrid native would love to return to Spain, plus Los Blancos could get the experienced goalkeeper completely for free. For a year as a backup option, it wouldn’t be a bad deal, but the problem could be de Gea’s midfield, which Real take a lot of pride in.

Keylor Navas

A return to the old days? Keylor Navas had a fantastic time at Madrid, winning three Champions League titles, only to leave with a somewhat bitter aftertaste when he was forced out of goal by Thibaut Courtois.

He left for PSG, where he played three seasons before being pushed out of goal by Gianluigi Donnarumma. Last season he went on loan to Nottingham in the spring, where he helped keep them in the Premier League with great performances.

At 36, he still has great quality and would be ideal for a year, but there is one problem. He is still under contract for one more year in Paris and Real’s relationship with PSG is not ideal.

Kepa Arrizabalaga

Another option that Valdebebas are said to be leaning towards is Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Spanish goalkeeper of Chelsea got back to his old form last season, becoming the number one for Chelsea and even the Spanish national team again.

The question is how much Chelsea would demand for Kepa. This transfer is unlikely to happen as Real have cheaper options available. Moreover, he is only 28 years old and Courtois will be back in a year’s time to take back the number one position, so the transfer would not be ideal for Kepa’s future prospects.

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