Arsenal ‘offered’ Kepa to Lazio as Bournemouth ‘returned with’ Mandas bid | OneFootball

Lazio have reset their goalkeeping hierarchy, selling Ivan Provedel to Inter Milan for €3 million and promoting Christos Mandas to number one with Edoardo Motta as his understudy.

Il Messaggero reports that Bournemouth returned with a €15 million offer to keep Mandas after his loan, which Lazio rejected, and that Arsenal offered Kepa Arrizabalaga for €5 million, an option the club did not pursue.

Mandas’ six-month stint at Bournemouth yielded no appearances, and the Premier League club chose not to trigger an option, around €18 million, at the end of that spell.

Kepa previously cost Chelsea €80 million in 2018 and is now back-up to David Raya. Lazio also declined talk of a Mandas swap involving Michele Di Gregorio, who later joined Bournemouth on loan.

Gennaro Gattuso’s wish to keep Mandas was ultimately respected. Aside from a poor Coppa Italia outing against Mantova, the Greece international has two clean sheets from the opening two Serie A rounds and was Man of the Match against Bologna.

Source: The Laziali

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