Real Madrid goalkeeper Lunin joins Real Oviedo on loan until end of season

Real Madrid have loaned goalkeeper Andriy Lunin to Real Oviedo for the remainder of the 2019-20 season, the Spanish capital club announced on Wednesday.

Having originally been farmed out to Real Valladolid for the current campaign, the Ukraine international took in only two performances for the side owned by Brazilian great Ronaldo, both coming in the Copa del Rey.

With coach Sergio Gonzales preferring Jordi Masip in La Liga, Lunin will hope that his new club offer him more playing time in the Spanish top-flight as the 20-year-old looks to add some much needed experience to his CV in the battle to break into Madrid's first team.

A statement on Madrid's official website reads: "Real Madrid CF and Real Oviedo have agreed to the transfer of Andriy Lunin for this season, until June 30, 2020."

Indeed, dethroning first-choice stop-stopper Thibaut Courtois will take some doing, while Alphonse Areola – on loan from Paris Saint-Germain following the exit of Keylor Navas – sits second in line behind the Belgian.

Even then, Lunin is fighting for a place alongside Moha Ramos and Luca Zidane, the son of head coach Zinedine, and first-team action will be a must if he has any hopes of one day being the main man between the sticks at the Santiago Bernabeu.

A product of the FC Metalist Youth Sportive School in Ukraine, Lunin was snapped up by Dnipro upon his graduation, where he quickly established himself as the team's first-choice. 

Due to financial regularities, however, Dnipro were relegated to the third tier of Ukrainian football and several players – Lunin included – were allowed to leave the club.

A solitary season with Zorya Luhansk followed before the young talent was snapped up by Real Madrid for a reported €8.5 million plus an additional five in add-ons, with Lunin becoming the first Ukrainian to sign for the storied club in the process.

Since his move to the Spanish capital, Lunin is yet to play in a competitive game for Los Blancos, first being loaned out to Leganes for the 2018-19 season, where he took in five appearances in La Liga and a further two in the Copa del Rey.