Real Madrid sign teenage goalkeeper Andriy Lunin

Real Madrid has signed yet another young prospect, this time from Ukraine. The keeper was sought after by several clubs in Europe but put pen to paper with Madrid.

Florentino Perez seems to be working on a very different plan for this summer, at least for now. The President has signed another youth player, clearly building the Real Madrid squad of the future. Surely, later this summer we will see some first-team changes but for now, The Real Champs takes a look at the new singing.

On the Official Real Madrid page, the club announced the signing of Andriy Lunin from Ukranian club FC Zorya Lukhansk. The 19-year-old has signed a six-year deal with Los Blancos. The transfer has come at a cost of a reported €8.5 million, a small price to pay for a high profile prospective keeper.

According to Marca, Madrid is said to have paid €8.5 million and €4m million in extras. For such a small amount of money, it will be a great investment for Real Madrid. According to Lunin’s father, Napoli was one of the other clubs chasing the young talent’s signature amongst many others.

Career

Andriy has spent just two seasons in the Ukranian top-flight playing for two different teams. Lunin has played 40 games in the Ukranian Premier League showing a fair amount of experience at such a young age. His biggest showcase was in last seasons Europa League match when his team played against Athletic at San Mamés. His brilliant performance ensured his team a victory and a spot in the uefa.com’s Team of the Week.

In addition to his time with his club teams, Lunin has already made two appearances for the Ukranian national team. The keeper is just 19 and it is unlikely that he will be sent out on loan for one season at minimum. As of now, Real Madrid has three goalkeepers on their roster; Keylor Navas, Kiko Casilla, and Luca Zidane. With rumors that Luca may be on his way out, Lunin would then fill his spot.

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The man who gets the call to be between the sticks in the Capital is a very tricky topic. On the one hand, the club has been linked with big-name talents like David De Gea and Thibaut Courtois. On the flip side, Keylor Navas pointed out earlier this week that now manager Julen Lopetegui tried to sign the Costa Rican to Porto back in 2014. This could mean that Navas sticks around, at least so long as Julen is at the Bernabeu.

Irrespective of what Julen’s plans are this purchase was definitely one for the long term. Perez and the board are thinking ahead by snatching up the hottest talents and that’s the right things to do. Twelve million euros for a possible top goalkeeper is a great investment. In the unfortunate event that it doesn’t pan out, this would be merely a drop in the ocean for this club given their expenditure.

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