Last month, Real Madrid signed promising goalkeeper Andriy Lunin from FC Zorya Luhansk. After just a month as a Real player, word on the street is that his new club could loan him out this season. Will it happen?
Real Madrid is receiving loan offers for the Ukranian goalkeeper who signed for €8.5 million just a month ago. Segunda Divisiòn side Elche is looking for a goalkeeper to help strengthen their squad before the start of the season, says Marca.
Although it isn’t guaranteed that the deal will even happen, it would make sense for new manager Julen Lopetegui to let the young keeper go and get more regular playing time, all be it in the lower division. At least for the remainder of 2018, it seems that Los Blancos will keep the duo of Keylor Navas and Kiko Casilla as the top two keepers and Luca Zidane as the third keeper.
Luca made just one league appearance a year ago – in the final game – but has been around the club for some time now and shouldn’t be moved aside now.
Lunin doesn’t have a lot of experience himself, and although he is on the preseason tour with the team, the chances of him staying this season are incredibly slim. While he could maybe get some game time with the Castilla team, he would benefit more from going out on loan and playing against higher quality teams.
As we saw when the club signed Martin Ødegaard a few years back, this is a signing for the future. It wouldn’t surprise me if we didn’t see Andriy Lunin even as a back up for three years. He is on a five-year deal, so there is little reason to rush him into the first team squad.
There isn’t a desperate need to replace Kiko Casilla as the back up as he has been adequate over the last couple years while Keylor has been a key part of the starting lineup for the last three Champions League titles.
Loaning him out would be the best option for the club for at least this season and made for the next two. Elche appears to be the best landing place for the Ukranian youngster.