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Real Madrid have reportedly identified three potential candidates to be backups for first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The Belgian international has established himself as one of world football's finest goalkeepers, but has missed games this season due to injury. Los Blancos' current No. 2 shot stopper is Andriy Lunin, who has made 11 appearances for the club over four seasons.
Six of those games have come this term, with the Ukrainian keeping two clean sheets so far. But with his contract expiring in June 2024, speculation is mounting that Lunin may soon be replaced with another option.
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According to Diariogol, Real Madrid will be paying close attention to the upcoming World Cup to scout for suitable candidates. The move from the club won't be unprecedented after they picked up Keylor Navas following his impressive display for Costa Rica in 2014.
The Galacticos are monitoring Cadiz shot stopper Jeremias Ledesma, who has been impressive for the La Liga outfit so far this term. In 11 games across all competitions, he has had three clean sheets.
Diogo Costa from Porto is also being considered, as he aims to be Portugal's No. 1 choice at the Qatar World Cup.
The final name mentioned is the highly-rated Dominik Livaković of Dimano Zagreb. The Croatian has been linked with a big-money move for a while now and will probably start for Croatia at the World Cup.
Lunin has done an admirable job standing in for Courtois during his time off, which has prompted Real Madrid to start negotiations for a new deal. But the keeper may be considering a move to get more first-team football in the near future and the decision will ultimately be his.
Thibaut Courtois hits out at Real Madrid teammates following UEFA Champions League defeat
The Spanish and European champions suffered their first defeat of the season as they fell to a 3-2 defeat at RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday (25 October). Courtois was clearly furious with his teammates after the final whistle and the keeper wasn't afraid to reveal his emotions.
The former Chelsea star commented (per The Mail):
"Sometimes we go out asleep, without aggressiveness or intensity, and against a team like Leipzig, you pay dearly. The coach had warned us that they score a lot of goals in their last five games at home and even so we went out there wrongly."
The Real Madrid No. 1 further added:
"We have to wake up, a bad day can happen because there are many games in a row in a short time, but intensity cannot be lacking even if we are tired. There are players on the bench and you have to give 100% every second."
