Will Real Madrid regret not signing Kepa?

19 apr 2018

Real Madrid were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao and it was mainly down to visiting team’s goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalag’s brilliance at Santiago Bernabeu.

The 23-year-old was linked with a move to the Spanish capital club in the January transfer window. He had €20 million release clause in his contract then.

However, Zinedine Zidane’s public comments about having no interest in signing the stopper forced the Champions League winners to end their pursuit of securing Kepa’s signature. He signed a contract extension and now has a €80 million release clause in his contract.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored the equaliser in the final quarter of the match, which came after Luka Modric’s shot touched his heel before beating Kepa. Barring that goal, the Portuguese international, along with Karim Benzema, Isco, Gareth Bale and Marco Asensio failed to get past Kepa.

Bilbao goalkeeper saved 15 shots that came in his way as Real dominated the possession at home. Kepa’s performance on Wednesday showed Real and Zidane made a mistake by not signing the stopper.