Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois to join Real Madrid

Chelsea said in a statement Wednesday the two clubs "have agreed terms for the permanent transfer of Thibaut Courtois subject to the agreement of personal terms and passing a medical. Subject to the completion of the deal Mateo Kovacic will join the Blues on a season-long loan."Real Madrid confirmed Courtois will undergo a medical on Thursday morning before signing a six-year deal.

The Belgium goalkeeper, winner of the Golden Glove award as the World Cup's best goalkeeper, will be presented at 1 p.m. local time before attending a news conference.

Madrid's starting goalkeeper has been Keylor Navas, who helped the club win the last three Champions League titles. But the club has been linked with a new goalkeeper in most recent transfer windows, and tried to sign David De Gea from Manchester United in 2015 only to miss the deadline. Last season, Madrid reportedly also tried to sign Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who now is expected to join Chelsea as Courtois's replacement.

Courtois had stayed away from Chelsea's training ground this week as he tried to force through a move.

Athletic said the 23-year-old Kepa had his 80-million-euro buyout clause ($92.6 million) paid on Wednesday, although the Spanish club did not say which team made the payment.

Kepa had been with Athletic since 2004, rising through the youth ranks. Considered Spain's goalkeeper of the future, he was a reserve at the World Cup in Russia. He is set to become the most expensive goalkeeper ever, beating the 72.5 million euros Liverpool paid Roma for Alisson earlier this summer.

While not discussing the status of the transfer, Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri said Tuesday that Kepa is "very young, but very, very good."Sarri is also getting Kovacic, who had not played much with Madrid since joining the club in 2015 and had been seeking a transfer. The Croatian midfielder competed with regular Madrid starters Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.

AP