It’s official folks. Keylor Navas has left Real Madrid to sign with Paris Saint-Germain and in return, Los Blancos have acquired 26-year-old Alphonse Areola on loan for the remainder of the season.
This may not be the move fans wanted, seeing the hero of Real Madrid’s three Champions League titles in three consecutive years seemingly pushed out, but it is better than letting the Costa Rican Navas walk away for free.
Instead, president Florentino Perez has gotten some compensation for the deal by way of bringing French international Alphonse Areola over from PSG.
The writing was on the wall for much of the summer that Navas’ time in the Spanish capital was coming to an end after five years, so there is little surprise in this news. However, Areola coming over on a loan tells us a lot about what Real Madrid as a club has planned moving forward.
👉 #WelcomeAreola pic.twitter.com/c2uzUNtyEz
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) September 2, 2019
Before we dive into that, let’s get to know the new goalkeeper a little bit better.
Areola has been with PSG for basically his entire footballing career. He signed with the French giant’s youth academy in 2006 and has been a member of the club since. That being said, despite being a member of the first team since 2013, Areola has now been loaned out four times.
He has spent a year with RC Lens, SC Bastia, Villarreal, and will now do the same with Real Madrid.
Since being moved to the first team, Areola has made 107 appearances for Paris allowing 83 goals and keeping 53 clean sheets.
While battling with some world-class keepers for that coveted starting spot at the Parc des Princes, Areola has won the Ligue 1 title three times, the French league cup twice, the French super cup four times, and the French cup twice.
The French international has very quick reflexes and at 6’5″ and nearly 200 lbs, he will serve as a great back up to Thibaut Courtois because of the size the two net-minders both have.
Much like Thibaut, Alphonse Areola is well known for making saves right in front of goal and has a cannon of a leg to use on outlets. However, one of his weaknesses just like Courtois is his inability to catch shots on target.
He tends to parry the ball and hope his defense can sweep the ball away, something Real Madrid has struggled to do in the last year and a half.
Selling Keylor Navas and electing to bring Areola over on a temporary deal indicates that Zinedine Zidane and the Real Madrid board is happy with Andriy Lunin and would like to see him back up Courtois once he returns from his loan stint with Real Valladolid this season.
Navas was a great player and teammate who Real Madrid had at their disposal during his prime. Now, it is time to move on and find younger, promising faces to play in goal. Areola is a great back up option and should see some solid playing time in his short stay in Spain.