When Thibaut Courtois seriously injured his knee last August, few Real Madrid fans imagined that at this stage of the season, Andriy Lunin would be the team's starting goalkeeper. And for good reason, the Ukrainian had not convinced many people until now, whether during his rare appearances with the Merengues or during his loans, even going so far as to play in the Spanish second division. Kepa had also arrived from Chelsea with, clearly, this number 1 place reserved for him pending the return of the Belgian.
But, as the season progressed, Lunin overtook Kepa. The latter, between unconvincing performances and some physical problems, thus offered the Ukrainian the opportunity to show himself. And the latter seized his chance, stringing together good performances in the Madrid cages and being praised by critics. Surprise, but also relief, since Kepa was not at the expected level and it would have been difficult to hope to go far in La Liga and the Champions League with an unconvincing goalkeeper.
A change of plans for Real Madrid?
An explosion at the highest level which comes at the right time, especially since Courtois is injured again and should not play again for the season. Only, as indicated A.S., Real Madrid risks being faced with quite a headache this winter. Indeed, Andriy Lunin would think about leaving the club. Real Madrid want to keep him, but the main person concerned wants to test the market. He believes he can have big offers guaranteeing him to be an indisputable starter elsewhere in Europe.
Whereas in Madrid, he should a priori always be number 2 once Courtois returns, and Real Madrid would a priori not consider making him the starter in the long term. A new goalkeeper will thus be recruited to take over from the Belgian. Lunin wants to be an indisputable number 1, and he knows that will not be possible in Madrid. This risks upsetting the plans of the club from the Spanish capital, which had not planned to strengthen itself in the cages this summer.
