According to reports coming out of Spain, although Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is satisfied with his current goalkeeper choices of Iker Casillas and Diego Lopez, the club has decided to sign Costa Rican international Keylor Navas after his outstanding performances at the World Cup this summer and for Levante last season.

The Spanish newspaper AS is reporting that Madrid have made up their minds and are pushing Diego Lopez out of the door to make room for Navas.

Lopez still has three years remaining on his contract and wants to receive a pay-off for an early termination of his contract (approximately £9.5 million), before looking for a new club when he and his Real Madrid teammates return from their US tour.

According to the Spanish publication, Monaco and Napoli have already expressed an interest in the 32-year-old, who started the majority of Real Madrid’s league matches last season. 

When Carlo Ancelotti was asked about the potential arrival of Navas last Saturday, the Madrid boss (who is rarely deceptive during interviews) stated: “Navas is not a Real Madrid player. At the moment we have the same keepers we had last year and Iker has just returned to training. We don’t have a problem with the goalkeeper and although there were a lot of debates about the issue last season, there never was with me.”

But news coming from Spain today suggests that club president, Florentino Perez, has decided to add another goalkeeper to the equation, which means that one player will have to be shown the exit door from the Bernabeu.

For his part, Diego Lopez has stated that he wants to continue on at Real Madrid. But he has also said if he isn’t wanted, then he doesn’t want to stay.

And judging the reaction on social media, Real Madrid supporters are not thrilled with the idea of Lopez leaving or how he’s being treated after serving the club so well:


Lopez returned to Real Madrid from Sevilla in January 2013 after Iker Casillas suffered a hand injury which ruled him inactive for twelve weeks. He had a previous stint in Madrid, serving as Casillas’ back up from 2005-2007.

From January 2013 until May 2014, Lopez kept 19 clean sheets while making 52 appearances for Real Madrid.

His departure will be confirmed shortly after Los Blancos return home from their final match of the International Champions Cup against Manchester United on Saturday afternoon.