Real Madrid star was never close to Chelsea in the summer despite rumours – Romano | OneFootball

Earlier this week, reports emerged confirming that Andriy Lunin had agreed a new contract with Real Madrid that would tie him down till the summer of 2028.

The 25-year-old Ukrainian international had been linked with a departure all summer after he slipped down to the second-choice position in goal following Thibaut Courtois’ return from injury.

Real Madrid, for their part, always wanted to retain Lunin and are now set to tie him down to a new deal that will ensure he does not leave for free next year, when his existing contract was going to expire.

Lunin was never close to joining Chelsea

Building on the news of Lunin’s imminent contract extension at Real Madrid, journalist Fabrizio Romano reports that the 25-year-old was never close to joining Chelsea in the summer despite reports suggesting otherwise.

Indeed, media outlets in Spain reported during the summer that the Ukrainian shot-stopper was closing in on a transfer to Chelsea, who had been scouring the market for a goalkeeper.

Set to sign a new deal. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images)

It was even claimed that Real Madrid would accept a player-plus-cash deal which would see Lunin move to Stamford Bridge and Kepa Arrizabalaga return to the Santiago Bernabeu.

But nothing of that sort materialised and Romano now states that despite what the reports claimed, Lunin was never close to leaving the Merengues for Chelsea.

Now, Lunin is all set to sign a new contract with the champions of Spain and Europe until 2028, with the stopper set to get an increase in his wages.

However, his situation will likely be reassessed in the summer of 2025 considering that he is unlikely to receive as many minutes as he would prefer.