Chelsea are set to sign the highly talented La Liga keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga this summer.
According to The Telegraph, the Blues are set to pay a world record fee for a keeper. The Athletic Bilbao shot-stopper has a £71.6m release clause in his contract and Chelsea plan to trigger it.
The Premier League giants are set to lose Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid and Kepa will come in as the Belgian’s replacement.
The fee for Arrizabalaga will eclipse the fee (£66.8m) Liverpool paid for Brazilian keeper Alisson earlier this summer.
The player is now expected to travel to London in order to complete the formalities of the transfer.
There is no doubt that the Bilbao keeper is a world-class talent. However, he is certainly not worth the £71.6m Chelsea are splashing on him. It is evident that Kepa is a panic buy for Chelsea.
It will be interesting to see how quickly the Spaniard adapts to English football now. He will be Chelsea’s number one next season and he needs to deliver instantly.
In the long run, Kepa has the talent to justify his fee. With age on his side, he could sort out Chelsea’s goalkeeping position for a decade.
The report from Telegraph adds that Chelsea are likely to sign Mateo Kovacic on loan as part of the Courtois deal.
The Croatian is thought to be frustrated with the lack of action at Santiago Bernabeu and a move to England would be ideal for him.
He will play regularly under Sarri and the Italian’s philosophy should suit him as well. Kovacic is an excellent dribbler and he could be the ball carrier Chelsea are missing in Jorginho and Kante.
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