Arsenal reportedly have competition for Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, in the form of Real Madrid.

Arsenal-linked goalkeeper Kepa is waiting to make a move to Real Madrid, claims Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla.

The 23-year-old, who has been linked with the La Liga giants as well as the Gunners, is reportedly stalling on signing a new deal with Bilbao and has under a year left on his current contract.

One of the reasons the Spaniard is apparently hesitant over penning an extension is that Bilbao allegedly want to write in a €75m release clause, which no one would pay for a young goalkeeper. No matter how crazy the market is right now.

Kepa Arrizabalaga 2
Spain’s goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga reacts during the UEFA U-21 European Championship Group B football match Spain v Macedonia in Gdynia, Poland on June 17, 2017. (MACIEJ GILLERT/AFP/Getty Images)

Kepa has reportedly been offered €5m-per-season by the Basque club, or £4.43m, which is a decent sum and suggests that perhaps the move is more about ambition than cash.

To put this into perspective, that’s supposedly more than Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois.

So far this season, Kepa has made seven La Liga appearances and kept three clean sheets, shipping nine. He makes 3.43 saves on average per game and has 100% claim success.

Last term, he kept seven clean sheets in 23 appearances, conceding 0.96 goals per game on average.

With Arsenal on the look-out for a young goalkeeper to take over from Petr Cech, Kepa sounds like a decent candidate.