CHERRIES have announced the signing of Spanish international goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The stopper signs on a season-long loan from Chelsea, a club which bought him for a world-record fee for a keeper in 2018.

He has signed a new deal at his home club to facilitate the loan, after he went on loan last season to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Here, Kepa made 14 La Liga appearances last term, along with four in the Champions League.

He was on the bench for the Champions League final, in which Borussia Dortmund were defeated 2-0 by the Spanish side.

The 29-year-old began his career at Athletic Bilbao’s youth setup, and was a youngster at the club while Cherries boss Andoni Iraola was in the first team.

Iraola said this week on his previous relationship with Kepa: “I think we haven't played together any game, but I know him.

“Obviously I know him because he has been an academy player when I was a first team player for a lot of years, and we have for sure trained together a lot of times, but I don't think we've played together.”

Speaking on the signing, AFC Bournemouth's chief executive, Neill Blake, said: “We are delighted to bring a player of Kepa’s calibre to AFC Bournemouth.
 
“We were aware of his availability and were keen to take the opportunity to bring him to the club on loan.
 
“We believe he will be an exciting addition to our talented goalkeeping department.”

Kepa progressed through to the first team in Bilbao and has also played at Basconia, Ponferradina and Real Valladolid.

He has made 109 appearances for Chelsea and 13 for the Spanish national team.