A few things...

If the news reports are true I think that the Curtois deal is a good one for Madrid. I believe he is a top 5 keeper and given he is 26, coming off of a tremendous world cup and that Real will only pay $35M for him when Chelsea will have to pay $85M for an unproven Kepa it is a no brainer. It also saves Real from having to pay 70-80M for Allison or 100M for DeGea.

Having said that, I really love Keylor Navas. His champions results speak for themselves and he has been a fantastic keeper the last 3 years. I believe Curtois is slightly better and given Keylor's age it makes sense. I will miss Keylor though. Class act. Would let in a softy every now and then but in the biggest moments he was Gigante.

Kovacic is a good player with the upside to be very good if not great. He is physical. His work rate is very good though he is definitely a confidence player and can get in the tank. Good shot and nose for the goal from the midfield. Decent distributor though not to the level of the starters on Real and he did not get much time at the World Cup on the Croatian national team.

The fact is that he is not going to crack the starting lineup at Madrid any time soon. While I would not say his defense is a liability he cannot fill the Casemiro role of holding midfielder. He is smooth with the ball (good in traffic) but will he become Modric? I do not think so. He is not as accurate with passes (particularly long ones) as Kroos though his pace is much better. Kroos brings other qualities I like though (leadership, loyalty etc.)

I am comfortable with Madrid letting Kovacic go out on loan to get more information and see if he improves with more playing time in another league. I am comfortable that Dani Ceballos can fill in very well for him and even become a better player. If in a year or two Modrid moves on maybe there is a spot for him but with Isco, Kroos, Asensio, Casemiro, and possibly James returning I think Madrid is stacked in the midfield. Not to mention that Madrid has promising candidates at Castilla in the midfield and I think at least one will pan out. It could come back to bite Madrid but, at this time, I feel Kovacic is expendable and loaning him the best option to see if he can become an elite player.