Football players are expected to possess a certain amount of strength and play consistently at the top level over a long period of time. However, according to K Donald Shelbourne, this increases the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear risk.
The 2023/24 La Liga season had barely begun before Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois shockingly tore his ACL. Now, the club has found a replacement in Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga, who has agreed a season-long loan deal with the club.
Real Madrid announces Kepa Arrizabalaga signing
Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois has just suffered an ACL injury that may see him wholly ruled out of the 2023/24 season. Hence the club had to invest in the signing of another goalkeeper in Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Over the years, Courtois has been an excellent signing for Real Madrid, winning the Champions League and the League title since he ventured off from Stamford Bridge to Santiago Bernabéu. When the elite Belgian goalkeeper first joined Madrid, he had a rocky start, just like any player who is still trying to get accustomed to a new environment. However, since then, he has only improved and registered his position as a regular starter for the club.
Courtois’ injury left Carlo Ancelotti with Andriy Lunin as his only available goalkeeper. However, Andriy Lunin will not be considered as a first-choice option for that role as they’ll need a player like Kepa Arrizabalaga to bring experience, talent, and some level of expertise to the team.
🧤 #WelcomeKepa 🧤 pic.twitter.com/HeiYT6CXpg
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) August 14, 2023
Real Madrid approached Chelsea for the former Athletic Bilbao and Real Valladolid player, and now a loan deal has been agreed for the 28-year-old Spain international. Kepa joined the Blues in a £71.6m switch from Athletic Bilbao in August 2018, and now he returns to La Liga with Real Madrid.
Injury update on Thibaut Courtois
Thibaut Courtois left training in tears after he tore his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), which will require extensive surgery and a lot of time for sufficient healing.
Initially, the nature of the Real Madrid Champions League winner goalkeeper’s injury was not specific, though everyone feared the worst. It later became apparent after the club released a statement to the effect of the injury;
“After the tests carried out on our player Thibaut Courtois, he has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The player will undergo surgery in the coming days.”
Thibaut Courtois and everyone around him was so distressed because they realized that the ACL may see him miss the rest of the 2023/24 season when it had barely begun. It is uncertain for how long the Belgian International will be out because he has yet to undergo surgery.
The situation has caused some of his fans around the world to wonder what exactly causes a torn ACL. On the causes of ACL, Donald Shelbourne, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Shelbourne Knee Center, said:
“We’re making people bigger and stronger than they were 20 years ago, and the amount of force generated is much higher. But their ligaments are still the same size.”
We wish Thibaut Courtois a speedy recovery, and can’t wait to see Kepa Arrizabalaga in action in the Los Blancos jersey.
