Juventus have reportedly registered their interest in Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and are willing to snap him up next summer.
A recent report from Fichajes has offered a detailed update on Juventus’s goalkeeping conundrum. It appears new coach Massimiliano Allegri is desperate to reinforce his options in between the sticks, having been left dissatisfied by the performances of Wojciech Szczesny while Gianluigi Buffon left for Parma in the summer.
One of the players Juventus are targeting is Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Bianconeri are aware of the uncertain future of the Chelsea goalkeeper, who is not favoured by Thomas Tuchel at all and a move away from Stamford Bridge could soon be on the horizon.
Formerly of Athletic Bilbao, Kepa currently holds the record for being the most expensive goalkeeper in world football, as he joined Chelsea in 2018 for a fee of €80 million. Unfortunately, the move has turned out to be a disaster for the Blues, as the Spaniard has failed to live up to his expectations, even becoming a liability due to his error-prone nature, in between the sticks.
His incompetence in goal forced Chelsea to bring in Edouard Mendy last summer. The move worked like a charm, with the Senegalese international becoming one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League within one and a half years.
At the same time, it has left Kepa trailing down the pecking order, with very little chance of redeeming himself at Stamford Bridge, even though he has performed admirably this season. As such, a move away from West London would make sense for both parties involved, with Chelsea themselves also keen on offloading the expensive Spaniard.
Former Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has remained keen on bringing Kepa to Lazio this season. It appears the Italian tactician is willing to offer him the opportunity to revive his career after three disastrous years in London.
But the recent interest from Juventus will certainly be fancied by Chelsea, knowing they are in the market for one of the Old Lady’s defensive jewels in Matthijs de Ligt. It won’t be surprising to see if the Blues even look to engineer a potential player plus cash deal, in an attempt to lure the Dutchman to English shores.
Juventus and Lazio are not the only admirers of Kepa, however, with the former Athletic Bilbao starlet also being considered by FC Barcelona, who are prepared to add meaningful competition for the underperforming Mats-Andre ter Stegen.
