Real Madrid have agreed a fee with Espanyol to sign their goalkeeper, Kiko Casilla.

A Catalan in Madrid

The 28-year-old arrives as the replacement for the recently departed club legend of Iker Casillas to Porto, and will provide competition for Keylor Navas and Fernando Pacheco for Los Merengues.

The deal is reported to involve a payment of around €6m for five years by Real, who retained a 50% ownership of Casilla – a product of their youth academy – after he moved to Espanyol in 2007.

In Barcelona, he played 115 matches in seven years that also included loan spells for three years in Cádiz and Cartagena.

Casilla has made one appearance for the Spanish national team, in November last year when he came on as a second-half substitute in a 1-0 defeat to Germany, the world champions, but was not included by national coach Vicente del Bosque, in his latest squad.

Homecoming

Espanyol president Joan Collet, who had turned down a €4m offer from Real Madrid last week, announced the deal had been reached on Friday after several weeks of negotiations.

"We have reached an agreement with all parties," the Catalan said. "Kiko Casilla will be transferred to Real Madrid. The fee is €6m. He told us that this is a unique opportunity for him and that this was his intention. He asked us to try to reach an agreement and this morning we have done so.

"This is a loss for us and we didn't expect it earlier this summer but we wish him the best of luck. The doors of this club will always be open to him."

The Catalan and Costa Rican will fight for that number one spot that was previously reserved for Casillas, but manager Rafa Benitez assures that this will be a different Madrid side at the Bernabeu with world class talent.

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About the author
Roberto Rojas
Writing about the beautiful game. Cohost of the @LowLimitFutbol Podcast.