AS in Spain are reporting that Chelsea are closing in on a deal for Real Madrid reserve goalkeeper Andriy Lunin.
The claim is that Chelsea will hand over Kepa Arrizabalaga (who spent last season on loan in Madrid competing with Lunin) and cash in order to take the 25 year old in return. The amount of cash they would want isn’t clear – but the article claims that Madrid value Lunin at €30m.
There has been no “formal offer” yet, but both Los Blancos and the Blues find the player plus cash swap appealing. Their attempts to sign Filip Jorgensen from Villareal are also mentioned here – with the incredible claim that that deal could still go through, despite 6 keepers already having their place on our books.
A bizarre situation as Chelsea prepare to buy yet more goalkeepers
This is such an odd transfer that we can’t really believe this is true, despite the strength of the source.
Lunin is Real Madrid’s backup. He wasn’t even considered good enough to be Thibaut Courtois’ backup for the season last year, hence why Kepa was brought in on loan in the first place. It’s true that Lunin eventually displaced the Spaniard to become Madrid’s first choice, but that says more about Kepa than the Ukraine international.
Lunin is a decent keeper and nothing more, and is certainly not the type of significant upgrade Chelsea are looking for. He had some good games but also made a number of significant errors last season, and Carlo Ancelotti couldn’t wait to replace him with Courtois the moment the Belgian was fit again.
We’re happy that Chelsea seem to agree with most fans that Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic aren’t good enough to be our future in goal – but we’re not sure Lunin is much of an upgrade.
