Despite Kepa’s mixed performances since his arrival from Athletic Bilbao two years, it doesn’t take rocket science to figure out that offloading him in order to make space for a new goalkeeper would be enormously difficult due to his world-record €80m fee and £150k wages. ESPN echo similar sentiment in their report earlier this week, claiming that Chelsea are struggling to drum up interest in the 25-year-old, especially against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ESPN do claim that Frank Lampard still wants to bring in a new No.1, but surely everyone involved knows that it won’t be easy to do so. Intermediaries have apparently tried to instigate some interest across Europe in Kepa — (ed.note: where are the transfer rumors, boys?) — but as expected, those efforts have born no fruit.
The report states that instead of trying to offload Kepa, the club will let Willy Caballero, who has spoken of his desire to return to Spain in the past, leave on a free transfer instead. Another senior goalkeeper will then be brought in, someone who can not only be a backup, but can also challenge for the main job.
Yesterday’s Telegraph also hint at something similar, adding that not even a loan deal would be feasible at this point as Chelsea would demand a sizable loan fee and insist on a £50m buy-option as well.