Sport

Ivo Grbic Signs for Atletico Madrid in Record Croatian Goalkeeper Transfer

By 20 August 2020

August 20, 2020 - The 24-year-old Lokomotiva goalkeeper Ivo Grbic has officially signed for Atletico Madrid!

Gol.hr reports that Ivo Grbic has signed the contract of his life. The child of Hajduk is going to famous Spanish club Atletico Madrid, though not from Poljud - but Kajzerica.

Lokomotiva is responsible for the colossal transfer, selling Grbic to Atletico for six million euro. The Zagreb club brought him from Hajduk for free.

As the Spanish portal Goal has learned, Grbic, accompanied by his manager, went by plane to Madrid on Wednesday, where he will undergo medical examinations and sign a historic contract for Croatian football.

The most expensive transfer of a Croatian goalkeeper was six million euro when Ghent sold Lovre Kalinic to Aston Villa, and even before that transfer, Kalinic also held the record for the most expensive Croatian goalkeeper. Hajduk sold him to Ghent for 3.7 million euro.

Thus, Lokomotiva breaks Hajduk's club record, and soon Kalinic's six million will become the second-largest goalkeeper transfer in Croatian history.

Namely, some sources say that Grbic's transfer could increase up to eight million euro thanks to bonuses, but these are still just speculations and there is no official confirmation of the news.

Goal revealed that Slaven Bilic almost agreed on Grbic's transfer to WBA, but at the last minute, Atletico offered the most and sealed the deal on the promising 24-year-old goalkeeper. The Spaniards write that Bilic put an offer on Grbic's table, and the young goalkeeper was in favor of going to England, but Atletico swooped in and ruined the plans of the former Croatia coach. 

Atletico is sending Alex Dos Santos, a goalkeeper from their football school, to Lokomotiva, and Lokomotiva will also receive 15% of Grbic's sales to another club in the future, Spanish media reports. 

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