London – The Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga He is one of the victims of Chelsea’s super squad of more than forty players and could be left without a contract with the ‘Blue’ team if he does not find an exit in this summer market.
Kepa, who was on loan at Real Madrid last season, where he shared the starting line-up with Lunin until Thibaut Courtois’ return, still has one year left on his contract with Chelsea, the club he joined in 2018 for 80 million euros.
The Spaniard has never been an undisputed starter at Stamford Bridge and is now part of a group that trains separately at the Cobham training ground and could be left without a signing if he does not find a way out in the eleven days remaining in the transfer market.
Chelsea currently have 42 players in their squad, while the Premier League only allows 25 players to register for the league championship. However, of the 42 players, twelve are under 21 years old, so do not count towards this limit.
Under Premier League rules, at least eight of the players in a Premier League team’s squad must be Home Grown, meaning they have spent at least three seasons at the club before turning 21.
With Conor Gallagher about to formalise his transfer to Atlético de Madrid, Chelsea are looking to sell Kepa, Armando Broja, Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell and Romelu Lukaku, who is negotiating with Napoli a pay cut and a transfer fee that could reach 30 million euros.
Enzo Maresca is counting on Robert Sánchez, who started this Sunday against Manchester City, Filip Jorgensen, who was signed for more than 20 million from Villarreal this summer, and Marcus Betinelli as his three goalkeepers for the season, meaning that Kepa, if he doesn’t leave, would be left without a place in the first team.
Broja, Chalobah, Chilwell and Lukaku would be in a similar situation if they did not leave Chelsea. JS
