David De Gea’s future is looking all set at Old Trafford in the near future. The Spanish custodian has been a long-term target for Real Madrid but the Spanish giants have failed to execute their plan properly. Real raided the English outfit a number of times but each time they had to return empty-handed.
But now the Galacticos have shifted their focus to Athletic Bilbao and according to reports, Bilbao keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga could be their first signing in January. Keylor Navas has been in excellent form for Los Blancos but questions have been raised over his ability to fit in this club’s philosophy.
The Costa Rican international has a very strong presence in the Madrid goal and Zinedine Zidane also seemed to be a large fan as he backed the player and opted to strengthen the other departments of the club. But recent results haven’t been to their standards and Zidane now feels the urge to beef up his keeping section.
Kiko Casilla has been playing the second fiddle to Navas and the shot-stopper has been very consistent but Arrizabalaga’s arrival could bring his spell at Real Madrid to an end. Arrizabalaga is unlikely to be the preferred choice upon his arrival at the Santiago Bernabeu as Navas’ position is looking secure at this moment.
The 23-year-old is probably bound to get a Spain call-up following his impressive showings for the Rojiblancos. He has been a regular for the Bilbao side in the La Liga and barring one match, has played every minute for them. Bilbao are very eager to keep the player in their fold but talks have broken down over the possibility of a new contract.
The keeper’s current contract runs until the end of the season and the club want to put a €75m release clause in the new contract but the player has turned down the advances and now could be available for free in the next summer.
Real are likely to poach him in January as he is expected to fetch a cut-price fee. The Spanish giants have lost their ground in the La Liga race as they are eight points adrift of league leaders Barcelona.
They also didn’t have a good outing in the Champions League in the last match as they were completely outplayed by a superior Tottenham Hotspur side.
Kepa has shown very good promises and he could follow the path of Iker Casillas, who had a glorious and long stint at the Santiago Bernabeu.
