A "fantastic" £150,000-per-week Chelsea player is now in talks over a move to Saudi Arabia, as new manager Enzo Maresca's squad continues to chop and change.
Players who could still leave Chelsea this summer
Thiago Silva, Hakim Ziyech, Lewis Hall, Omari Hutchinson, Michael Golding and Ian Maatsen have all left Chelsea to the tune of £89 million in total, helping Todd Boehly and co balance the books after a busy early summer window.
Chelsea hold internal talks over signing £70m Premier League forward
He’s been on fire for his club.
ByEmilio GalantiniJul 12, 2024
The Blues have sealed an array of signings so far with deals for Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu, Omari Kellyman, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Brazilian starlet Estevao Willian and Renato Veiga – investing £93 million in the process.
However, the club's net spend of around £4 million means they appear in pretty good stead in regard to PSR, with Premier League clubs allocated a loss of £105 million over a rolling three-year period.
Cole Palmer
7.48
Conor Gallagher
7.13
Nicolas Jackson
7.07
Moises Caicedo
6.85
Noni Madueke
6.84
To err on the side of caution in regard to spending money on further incomings, there are many more players who could be sold by Chelsea this summer to bolster the club's kitty, avoid PSR breaches and make space in Maresca's squad.
Romelu Lukaku, Armando Broja, Malang Sarr, Trevoh Chalobah, Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuemeka, Ben Chilwell, Mykhailo Mudryk and Raheem Sterling have all been linked with Stamford Bridge exits at some point within the last few months.
AC Milan and Napoli have displayed real interest in Lukaku, who has been loaned out to Serie A for the last two seasons. Broja is now a target for Juventus, according to some reports in Italy, while Chukwuemeka also finds himseld wanted by Milan.
There have been some rumours that Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad have been plotting a move for Kepa Arrizabalaga as well. The 29-year-old, on a reported £150,000-per-week, spent last season on loan at Real Madrid and his future seems far away from west London.
Arrizabalaga could reunite with N'Golo Kante at Al-Ittihad, with The Athletic sharing an update on their pursuit of the Spaniard this week.
Arrizabalaga in talks over move to Al-Ittihad
According to the outlet, and journalist Guillermo Rai, Kepa is in talks to leave Chelsea for Al-Ittihad. The goalkeeper is yet to make an official decision on his future amid interest from Real Madrid over re-signing him as a potential replacement for Andriy Lunin.
A separate report from The Athletic has since revealed that Al-Ittihad have had an opening bid turned down for the ex-Athletic Bilbao star, without sharing the amount on offer, but talks are believed to be continuing between all parties.
"In the last few matches, I’ve felt him very reliable in his game," said former Chelsea assistant Arno Michels on Arrizabalaga in 2022.
"His strength is to save penalties, he’s shown it a few times now: in the Carabao Cup twice, against Villarreal, and even in training, it’s hard to beat him. In penalty shootouts, he has the ability to read the mind of what the player is going to do. We are very happy with Kepa and he deserves this trust because he is a fantastic guy."