It’s been clear since pretty much the end of his first season at Chelsea that Kepa Arrizabalaga was not going to be good enough, and was going to need to be moved on at some point.
Yet here we are, 6 years later, with the Spaniard still on our books. But finally, it looks like this could be the last summer we speculate about a potential departure.
Last year at least saw some progress, as he was loaned out to Real Madrid. But as with Romelu Lukaku, this only brings temporary respite. The permanent deal is the top prize, and in this case it looks like we might have a winning ticket.
There’s been a lot of talk about interest from Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, without much concrete fact to back it up. But now, finally journalist Rudy Galetti is putting his name to some pretty solid information.
🚨💰 #AlIttihad sent an official bid to #Kepa: a long-term contract with a salary set at €7m/y. 🟡⚫
⏳ The 🇸🇦 club is waiting for a response from the 🇪🇦 GK.
🗣️ Talks are always underway also with #Chelsea, who consider him out of the plans: contacts with PIF will continue. pic.twitter.com/DYxx3dwFma
— Rudy Galetti (@RudyGaletti) July 16, 2024
A tempting offer all round
He says that Al Ittihad’s offer to the goalkeeper is €7m a year, hopefully enough to tempt him away from his mega wage packet at Stamford Bridge. They’re waiting to hear whether the stopper will consider a Saudi move.
From then it’s up to Chelsea. They’ve apparently already turned down one transfer offer from the league because it wasn’t up to what they wanted. But they must also see the value in getting the Basque out of the door at almost any price. We’re into preseason now and it’s clear that he’s “out of the plans” as Galetti puts it.
Nobody wants unwanted players hanging around in preseason killing the mood – there’s already a racism scandal bubbling over, more unhappy faces on campus are the last thing we need. Everyone is keen to make this deal happen, let’s hope the numbers all line up so we can finally end this nightmare.
