CHELSEA cannot even find anyone to take Kepa on LOAN as they face wasting £5million to pay the flop keeper to sit on the bench.
The Spanish stopper has been dumped into the wilderness at Stamford Bridge following a series of cock-ups which forced the club to sign Edouard Mendy to be their new No1.
Chelsea flop Kepa Arrizabalaga looks set to sit on the benchCredit: AFP or licensors
But director Marina Granovskaia is refusing to take a financial hit on the world record £71million she paid to sign Kepa two years ago – meaning no club in Europe is in a position to take him off Chelsea’s hands.
With an asking price approaching £60m, there have been no buyers found for the 25-year-old and now the Blues have had to start looking to find a club willing to take him on loan.
But with European football hit badly by the Covid-19 pandemic, there are not even any sides willing and able to agree a loan deal which would mean they have to meet his £150,000-a-week wages.
The only way they could realistically get him out before the transfer window closes on Monday would be to agree to pay at least half his wages.
But even then the interest is limited, so it is growing increasingly likely the London club will be stuck with Kepa on their wage bill for the remainder of the season – handing them a bill of £5m just to be a back-up keeper.
The Blues are furiously trying to offload fringe players before the window closes, with Toni Rudiger looking for a way out along with Marcos Alonso.
Alonso appears to have sealed his Stamford Bridge exit after trying to watch the second-half against West Brom from the team bus after being subbed – something boss Frank Lampard blasted him for.
Jorginho and Tiemoue Bakayoko are others who the club would be keen to move on while Inter Milan are trying to scrape the funds together to sign N’Golo Kante.
Ross Barkley joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan on Wednesday and Ruben Loftus-Cheek is another who could spend the campaign elsewhere with West Ham interested.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
