Chelsea announce completed deal for Premier League regular at last | OneFootball

Chelsea yesterday confirmed that goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was heading to Arsenal, with most reports agreeing the Gunners have paid his £5m release clause.

It had been expected he would join Bournemouth, where he spent last season on loan as first choice, permanently this summer, but in the end Mikel Arteta’s team have persuaded him to go and be a backup to David Raya at the Emirates.

Basque Kepa’s departure clears some of Chelsea’s confusion

Kepa Arrizabalaga in action for Bournemouth against Tottenham. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

There had been zero expectation of Kepa staying at Chelsea for this season, but it does get another name off the squad list and off the wage bill, helping to clarify our squad building plans another notch.

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Kepa saga ends at last after years of frustration

So ends one of the longest and most disastrous transfer sagas in Chelsea history.

Bought in 2018 for £72m in a panic after Thibaut Courtois forced his way out of the club to join Real Madrid, the Basque stopper had a decent debut year under Maurizio Sarri where it appeared that he might one day end up being the player we paid so much for.

But after that, things went downhill for Kepa , and he struggled under a number of coaches, year after year. But with such a massive transfer fee, it was impossible to move him on, and he was given so much rope to try and prove himself.

Finally he can now move on, and so can Chelsea. Although, with Robert Sanchez in goal, some would argue we’re no closer to finding our next Courtois than we were in 2018…