Who is Karlo Letica? Real Madrid’s new goalkeeper target
By Alex McVey
Real Madrid have recently been linked to Croatian goalkeeper Karlo Letica. Who is Letica, and what would he bring to the table at Madrid?
It looked like Real Madrid were going to upgrade their backup goalkeeper over the January transfer window. Reports suggested that Athletic Bilbao keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga had already completed a medical and was days away from signing at the club. But then, Zidane supposedly put the kibosh on the deal, publicly claiming that a new keeper was not needed.
With that, Real Madrid opted to wait before upgrading at the goalkeeper position. With spring upon us, and the summer transfer window starting to creep into the minds of fans and pundits, rumors have started stirring suggesting that Real Madrid are now scouting their options for a new man between the post next season.
One option for a new keeper is Croatian international Karlo Letica. Letica plays for Hajduk Split. a club currently sitting second in Croatia’s top division, behind Dinamo Zagreb, their eternal rivals and former club of Madrid’s other Croatian players Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic. Real Madrid are rumored to be interested in signing the young Croat this summer to help strengthen at the keeper position.
What does Letica bring to the table? First of all, Letica is just 21 years old. If Real Madrid had any interest in keeping Keylor Navas on board, this could make sense to sign Letica as a backup keeper, with an eye to gradually reversing those roles over the course of the next few years. Letica could be a great way to transition into the post-Navas era at Madrid.
I watched a reel of his best saves on YouTube to try to get a sense of what Letica’s keeping style is like. You can tell from watching him that he occupies that sweet spot between physical prowess and acrobatic ability. Oftentimes you’ll see goalkeepers who are either strong, or nimble, but the best goalkeepers have to be both. Letica is tall, coming in at 6’7”, a full half foot taller than Navas at 6’1. His highlight reel shows him dominating the box while also making some really impressive last-ditch reflex saves.
Another thing you can see from this video is really good positional awareness. Letica seems to be good at knowing when to push forward and come out of his box to bail out the defense. Letica is still young. And granted, highlight reels only accentuate a player’s strengths while omitting their errors. But based on what I’ve seen, Letica seems a promising young players with all the raw material there to make a great goalkeeper.
Who knows whether there’s actually anything to these rumors. Real Madrid are also rumored to be interested in Manchester United keeper David de Gea after ex-Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho steered the Mancunians to an early exit from the Champions League. That wouldn’t necessarily rule out a Letica transfer, but if Madrid are interested in both it would certainly spell the end of Keylor Navas’ time at Real Madrid.
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Regardless of who Real Madrid end up purchasing at the goalkeeper position, it’s hard to see Kiko Casilla lasting any longer as the backup keeper. Casilla hasn’t been awful, but he hasn’t been great either. At a club like Real Madrid, the backup keeper needs to be of a slightly higher quality.