Real Madrid are set to battle with arch-rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for the transfer of Sevilla’s 20-year-old goalkeeper Alfonso Pastor in the summer.
According to a report from Spanish publication AS, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are set to go head-to-head in the race to sign Sevilla goalkeeper Alfonso Pastor on a free transfer in the upcoming transfer window.
Pastor is the product of the Sevilla youth academy and currently plays for the club’s B team. The 20-year-old did make his first-team debut for Los Nervionenses earlier this season in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, filling in for the injured Bono and Tomas Vaclik as his side were thrashed 4-0 by Chelsea.
Even though he let in four goals on his only senior appearance, Pastor did make several eye-catching saves and is held in the highest of regards within the club. However, the young shot-stopper is in the final few weeks of his contract with Sevilla, which expires at the end of the season, alerting several clubs over the possibility of a Bosman move in the summer, including Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
In Thibaut Courtois and the highly-rated Andriy Lunin, Real Madrid have their goalkeeping department at the first-team level sorted. Diego Altube is the third-choice custodian, who is yet to make his debut for Zinedine Zidane’s side but is an ever-present in the matchday squads this season. So, there could be space for someone like Pastor at Madrid’s Castilla outfit before he pushes onto first-team football at the Santiago Bernabeu.
As for Barcelona, in Marc-Andre ter Stegen, they have one of the best goalkeepers in La Liga as their No. 1. However, with backup goalkeeper Neto on his way out at the end of the seaosn, there will be a vacancy that needs to be filled come summer. Inaki Pena is widely expected to fill in as ter Stegen’s understudy, with Arnau Tenas likely to become the third-choice, opening up a spot in the Catalan giants’ B team for Pastor.
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, have Jan Oblak and Ivo Grbic as their first-team goalkeepers currently, with the latter only arriving at the club only last summer from Lokomotiva Zagreb. However, much like the aforementioned clubs, Los Rojiblancos could use with a new shot-stopper for their B team as Jaume Valens is out of contract at the end of the season, with his potential departure creating an opening for Pastor to come in.
The fact that the 20-year-old is available on a free transfer is of appeal to all the aforementioned clubs. And it now remains to be seen if any of Real, Atletico or Barcelona end up landing Pastor at the end of the campaign or look at alternatives with the Merengues and the Blaugrana also being linked with Villarreal’s B team goalkeeper Marc Vidal.
