Almost eight years ago, Chelsea splashed out £71million to bring highly-rated Kepa Arrizabalaga to Stamford Bridge - in what was, and remains to this day, a world record fee for a goalkeeper.
Arriving from Athletic Bilbao, Kepa was the man chosen to replace Thibaut Courtois, who joined Real Madrid, a deal that was announced on the same day. At the time, Blues director Marina Granovskaia insisted Kepa would be a "big part of any success Chelsea have in the coming years", as the west Londoners gave the Spaniard a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge.
Then followed a shaky first season between the posts for Chelsea; something that was put down to, at the time, a settling in period for the Spain international - something Blues supporters hoped would be like what we saw from David De Gea in his early days at Manchester United. However, in February of his debut campaign in England, Kepa did something that has stuck in everyone's minds ever since.
He infamously refused to be taken off during extra-time of the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City. Maurizio Sarri wanted to bring Willy Caballero on at Wembley with the Argentine deemed the stronger of the two goalkeepers at saving penalties, with the final heading for a shootout. Sarri was furious on the touchline and felt as if he had been undermined.
Kepa, a few days later, apologised for his actions and was fined a week's wages for the incident. He said: "Although there was a misunderstanding, on reflection, I made a big mistake with how I handled the situation."
The Spaniard was dropped for Chelsea's next Premier League match, although he quickly returned to being the No.1 goalkeeper under Sarri. Kepa, though, saw his form take a turn for the worse the following season when Frank Lampard took over for his first spell as manager at Stamford Bridge. A disappointing campaign between the posts saw Chelsea act in the transfer market.
In came Edouard Mendy, recommended by Petr Cech who was an advisor at the club at the time, and the Blues quickly forgot about Kepa. The Spaniard was demoted to the No.2 goalkeeper with Mendy impressing at the Bridge. Kepa was left to watch from the bench as his teammate produced a brilliant campaign to help Chelsea lift their second Champions League trophy under Thomas Tuchel.
There was one point under Graham Potter where Kepa threatened to come back into the fold. Mendy's form had dipped and Kepa came back into the side and impressed but the club did not see the now 30-year-old as the long-term solution to their goalkeeping situation.
A loan to Real Madrid followed, with Kepa moving to the Spanish capital to provide cover for the injured Courtois in ridiculously bizarre circumstances considering the Belgian was the man he was replacing at Chelsea around five years before. However, Kepa was not able to show his quality at the Bernabeu and ended up losing his place to Andriy Lunin for Los Blancos before Courtois made his long-awaited comeback from injury.
Last summer, Bournemouth offered Kepa a lifeline and another opportunity to play in the Premier League. All in all, it has been a really strong loan spell down on the south coast for the Spanish shot-stopper. Kepa has featured 25 times for the Cherries in all competitions this season, with six clean sheets to his name and Andoni Iraola's side are interested in making a deal permanent this summer.
Sources close to the Spaniard have told football.london his time at Chelsea is about to come to an end and a permanent move is expected to be on the cards in the summer transfer window. Bournemouth are considering making a bid for Kepa at the end of his current deal, with just over 12 months remaining on his contract at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea need to offload Kepa permanently this summer, otherwise they risk losing the goalkeeper on a free transfer. Elsewhere, the summer will see young Belgian goalkeeper Mike Penders move to west London after the Blues agreed to sign the shot-stopper around 12 months ago.
football.london understands Chelsea have high hopes regarding Penders and believe he can one day become the No.1 goalkeeper at Stamford Bridge. Although at just 19-years-old, whether he is ready just yet is another question. Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen are the two main options between the posts at this moment in time and the club retain full faith in both goalkeepers despite criticism from some quarters.
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Chelsea ended the 2023/24 Premier League season on a high, but it is never quiet at Stamford Bridge and the summer looks set to be one full of news, with question marks over Mauricio Pochettino's future at the club and plenty of talk around transfers.
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