Chelsea to make huge financial loss on big money arrival
Chelsea stand to take a huge financial hit if Frank Lampard pushes to sell club-record signing Kepa Arrizabalaga this summer, claims The Daily Mail.
The Premier League outfit made Kepa the club's most expensive signing and shattered the record fee paid for a goalkeeper in 2018 after shelling out £71m for the Spaniard.
The 25-year-old has underwhelmed massively since arriving from Athletic Club as Thibaut Courtois' replacement and Lampard finally ran out of patience with him last weekend.
Kepa was dropped to the bench in favour of understudy Willy Caballero for last weekend's 2-2 draw with Leicester and it's unclear whether he will return to the first-team fold any time soon.
Kepa had leapfrogged David de Gea as Spain's No.1 goalkeeper in the last 12 months but it remains to be seen whether he will be able to hold on to the shirt if he spends the rest of the season on the bench for Chelsea.
Lampard is eyeing up a replacement for Kepa at the end of the season, with Burnley's Nick Pope mooted as a potential target, but Chelsea are concerned what Lampard's treatment of Kepa will do to his valuation.
Chelsea have already accepted they will not be able to command anything close to the £71m they paid for Kepa but by spending the rest of the season on the bench his valuation will only plummet further.
Kepa has kept just five clean sheets in 24 league games this season and has the worst save success rate in the Premier League (56.2%) of those to have started more than 10 games.