Chelsea are making progress on some of their big issues of the summer – Conor Gallagher’s future has been sorted, and they’ve picked up a few cheap signings to fill holes in their squad.
With the season now less than two weeks away, however, there’s a lot to be done, and one problem which continues to hang menacingly over the whole window is the future of Kepa Arrizabalaga.
The goalkeeper has been hanging around Cobham like a bad smell for years, and while last year’s loan to Real Madrid got him off the books for a while, it hasn’t solved the problem permanently.
We would dearly love to send him back there again – either on loan or permanently – but that’s no so easily done. There does appear to be some interest from Los Blancos in getting the Basque back, but with Thibaut Courtois now fit again, it comes down to what Kepa’s erstwhile rival Andriy Lunin wants to do.
🚨⚪️ Ancelotti on Kepa’s return: “In that position, we are covered. Kepa did really well. We were really happy to have him here but I don’t know what’s going to happen this season. We love him!”.
↪️ It all depends on Lunin’s future; if he leaves in August, Kepa will be ready. pic.twitter.com/DAz2yNRgXd
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 5, 2024
Carlo speaks out
Manager Carlo Ancelotti was asked on the subject of goalkeepers this week, and gave a somewhat mysterious answer:
“In that position, we are covered. Kepa did really well. We were really happy to have him here but I don’t know what’s going to happen this season. We love him,” the former Chelsea coach said.
As Romano adds onto his Tweet on the subject – “it all depends on Lunin’s future, if he leaves in august, Kepa will be ready.”
It’s not an ideal situation for Chelsea – we want a solution sooner rather than later. We don’t want to pay his major wages for another year, nor do we want the awkwardness of having him at the training ground, either excluded from the main group or included.
While Madrid might be his dream destination, we can’t rely on that happening, and need to shop him around.
