Kepa keen to make Real Madrid move permanent

Kepa Arrizabalaga hopes to make his loan move to Real Madrid permanent.

The Spain international joined the LaLiga side on a season-long loan from Chelsea on Monday after No1 Thibaut Courtois was ruled out for the majority of the season with an ACL injury.

Kepa, 28, hopes to make an impression at the Bernabeu and extend his stay.

“Will I stay after the loan? Hopefully,” Kepa said at his Real Madrid unveiling on Tuesday.

“Today is the first day of my loan. We have time, we’ll see. Hopefully with my performance I can make that happen.”

Kepa joined the Blues in a £71.6million switch from Athletic Bilbao in August 2018 and has made 168 appearances for the club.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side began their LaLiga campaign with a 2-0 win over Bilbao on Sunday, with Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin between the sticks.

“This is one of the most important and special days of my sporting career and of my life,” Kepa told the club website.

“I’m very proud to be at Real Madrid. I’ll never be short of hard work, commitment and effort with this jersey both in training and in matches.

“I hope that we can further add to Madrid’s trophy cabinet and enrich the club’s legend. Hala Madrid!”