As the summer reached its final stages, Chelsea still had a lot of players they needed to get rid of, and top of the list was Kepa Arrizabalaga.
In the end they got the stopper to sign a contract extension, which in turn gave them the breathing room to loan him out instead of selling him – it seems there were no permanent takers at that time.
The Spaniard went to Bournemouth and has since become a regular – he’s started 10 league games, and it would have been 11 had he been eligible to face his parent club. By all accounts he’s having a solid season, and overall the Cherries are putting together another brilliant campaign.
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A Chelsea flag flies at Wembley. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Kepa Arrizabalaga in the tunnel at Bournemouth.
So of course there is some optimism from Chelsea’s end that Andoni Iraola’s side will try to make the deal permanent in the summer. There is no option or clause in the deal, so the two teams will need to start from scratch, but at the moment the prospects look good given his form. Chelsea won’t ask for a big fee, they’re just keen to have the Basque’s wages finally off the books.
There’s even been talk of a £5m release clause in the extension he signed.
Kepa Arrizabalaga playing for Bournemouth. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
Kepa Arrizabalaga playing for Bournemouth. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
Kepa’s desires could scupper Chelsea’s best laid plans
But there is another factor in all this – Kepa’s will. SportWitness claim that the 30 year old wants to come back to Chelsea after this season,
We assume he knows he won’t even be playing for us again, and will instead be angling for a move to a bigger team, like last season where he spent the year at Real Madrid while Thibaut Courtois was out injured.
A lot of this now comes down to Iraola and whether he can convince Kepa that he’s best served staying on the South Coast.