Chelsea in talks to loan out Kepa Arrizabalaga after Mendy’s arrival

The arrival of Edouard Mendy might have cast doom over Kepa Arrizabalaga’s Chelsea career.

After the arrival of Rennes’ goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy, Chelsea seems to be sending Kepa Arrizabalaga out on loan this campaign. Also, the Blues have set an ambitious price for the world-record goalkeeper. For those wanting to sign the goalkeeper next summer, Chelsea have set a price of £40million.

The Blues are set up to make a considerable loss on the 25-year-old shot-stopper who was signed for a world record fee of £71m from Athletic Bilbao. Frank Lampard has run out of patience with Kepa after a sequence of high-profile and expensive mistakes during his time in London.

Despite the manager reiterating his trust in the goalkeeper, Kepa hasn’t learned from his mistakes. Kepa Arrizabalaga was partly at fault for both of Sadio Mane’s second-half goals, which did himself no favors during Chelsea’s Premier League clash with Liverpool during Matchday 2.

After a string of mistakes, Frank Lampard left the Spaniard on the bench over the weekend past when they drew to West Brom 3-3. Willy Caballero was summoned to take his place in between the sticks. Chelsea are left with three shot-stoppers now and Frank has a decision to make.

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Moreover, the club’s chiefs feel he will regain his confidence out on loan this season. With the Premier League giants firm to get back at least £40m of the record fee they paid for him in 2018, they are hoping for some sort of return in form, which can drive up the Spaniard’s price. In return, they believe it is unrealistic due to the financial ambiguity caused by the pandemic.

The Blues paid the record fee for the goalkeeper after selling Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid. Former England shot-stopper, David James, took a slight dig at the goalkeeper but praised him for his attributes. He said: 

"I studied Kepa before he came to Chelsea and he fascinated me.This guy was capable of making saves I hadn’t seen in the Premier League for a long time, top-end stuff, proper, proper top-end stuff.But then he would throw one in and I’d think, “OK, there’s a flaw here but if you get the right coaching and right environment for him, this guy could be the best goalkeeper in the Premier League."

James also believes that the player wasn’t supported and backed when fans went against the goalkeeper. Neither the players nor the manager supported Kepa Arrizabalaga or even tried to boost the confidence of the player.

"But I don’t think Kepa’s had the protection at Chelsea, I think he’s been hung out to dry. If he doesn’t do something right, it’s wrong and he gets absolutely lambasted by everybody. And I’ve been in Kepa’s position, when I was at Liverpool I was that guy."

The question remains for fans everywhere is what will happen to Kepa? Is it the right choice to bench a world-record signing with a £22m player? Is there still hope that he could revive his Blues career? The answer is, “Only Time Can Tell”.