Athletic Club goalkeeper Kepa 'calm' over Arsenal and Real Madrid speculation

Athletic Club goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga is remaining "calm" over speculation linking him with Arsenal, Real Madrid and Juventus but admits he is not "blind" to the rumours surrounding his future.

Kepa established himself as Athletic's first-choice goalkeeper during the previous campaign and has made 10 appearances for the Basque outfit so far this season. Jose Angel Zinganda's men have endured a rather poor start to the new La Liga campaign, languishing in 15th place, just five points above the relegation zone, but Kepa's stock has risen as his side's position in the table has sunk.

The 23-year-old has nailed down a place in Spain's senior squad ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia and kept a clean sheet on his international debut against Costa Rica on Saturday (11 November). His recent development has piqued the interest of Arsenal and Real Madrid, but Kepa seems intent on doing his talking on the pitch rather than responding to speculation over his future in any great detail.

"I am happy at Athletic, I am calm, I only focus on working for my club," Kepa was quoted as saying by FourFourTwo.

"I know that people talk about me because I have family and friends who read the press and listen to the radio, obviously I am not blind, but I am calm.

"I'm not nervous about the rumours, I am what I am because of what I do, not because of what they say."

Real Madrid and Arsenal may well go head-to-head for Kepa, whose contract with Athletic expires at the end of the current campaign, but Los Blancos will presumably have a upper hand on their English counterparts.

Kepa shares an agent with Dani Ceballos, who joined Real Madrid earlier in the summer, and Zinedine Zidane's men are reportedly willing to pay the Spain international's €20m release clause in order to keep things friendly with Athletic, according to Marca. Real boss Zidane recently made Kepa his number one goalkeeping target, with club president Florentino Perez keen on building a squad with a large Spanish presence.

Arsenal would presumably be reluctant to fork out €20m for a player they could get for free in a few months, and that will likely play into Real's hands as they search for an alternative to Keylor Navas, whose future has regularly been questioned.