Athletic Bilbao keeper Iago Herrerin believes his teammate Kepa Arrizabalaga will stay at the club.
Arrizabalaga is out of contract in the summer and is being linked with Arsenal, Chelsea, and Real Madrid. Athletic are understandably keen to secure their first-choice keeper to a long-term deal and are said to be in discussions.
While there is plenty of speculation about his future, his teammate, Iago Herrerin, believes that he’s fully committed to the club and is confident he’ll stay.
“He is young but he is level-headed and it makes total sense that teams have registered an interest in him, that is normal,” Herrerin told Marca via talkSPORT.
“Interest in him is logical, but he is Athletic Club until death. We don’t know what his future holds as the talks are between him and the club, but he is an Athletic goalkeeper until June.”
Arrizabalaga, 23, became the first-choice keeper for Athletic Bilbao last season, where he made 23 La Liga appearances. Before then, he was a regular for their second team, Bilbao Athletic, and had a successful loan spell in the Spanish second division with Real Valladolid.
He was the first-choice keeper the Spanish u21 side that reached the final of the European Championships last summer. Real Madrid have been linked with him and could make an offer in January to ward off the competition.
Arsenal, meanwhile, could be in the market for a new keeper, I believe, as Petr Cech isn’t getting any younger. Arrizabalaga could be a very smart addition should Arsenal manage to land him on a free transfer.