Out-of-favour Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has supposedly held talks over a loan move to Bournemouth for the 2024-25 season.
The former Athletic Bilbao starlet - who remains the most expensive goalkeeper on the planet - is back at Stamford Bridge after spending the 2023-24 campaign on loan with Real Madrid.
Los Blancos targeted Kepa after losing Thibaut Courtois to a serious ACL injury, and the Spaniard initially won over Carlo Ancelotti before falling below Andriy Lunin in the pecking order.
Despite his desire to stay at the Bernabeu, Kepa would have been Ancelotti's third choice behind Courtois and Lunin in 2024-25, so the Champions League holders unsurprisingly did not pursue a permanent move.
Kepa briefly forced his way back into the Chelsea team in 2022-23, but a permanent exit from Stamford Bridge has been expected to materialise for some time, and he is now in the last 12 months of his deal.
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Kepa to sign new deal before Bournemouth loan?
The 29-year-old is among a large group of outcasts training away from Enzo Maresca's main group, where Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen and Djordje Petrovic are vying for minutes in between the sticks.
With just a week to go until the summer transfer window closes in England, Kepa is running out of time to secure another Premier League move, but according to The Sun, he has now entered talks over a shock loan to Bournemouth.
The goalkeeper is supposedly keen to head south after holding discussions with Andoni Iraola, although a loan without a new deal would allow him to walk away from Chelsea for free next summer.
As the Blues are determined to recoup at least some of the £71.6m they paid for Kepa in 2018, the report adds that he is set to sign a new contract with the West London club ahead of a permanent move elsewhere in 2025.
Iraola has apparently promised Kepa that he will be the number one goalkeeper at Bournemouth in the 2024-25 season, despite Neto's strong work since arriving in the Premier League.
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Since becoming the world's most expensive goalkeeper in 2018, Kepa has kept 59 clean sheets in 163 matches for the Blues in all tournaments, but he has not played for the club since May 2023.
While at Real Madrid, the 29-year-old recorded nine shut-outs in 20 matches, but he was not called up to the Spain squad for Euro 2024 and is without a Roja appearance since March 2023.
Which other outcasts are Chelsea trying to sell?
The Blues faithful may not be best pleased to hear that Kepa is leaving on loan again rather than going permanently, but the club will at least get his salary off their wage bill for 2024-25 and are desperately working to trim Maresca's bloated squad further.
The likes of Trevoh Chalobah, Romelu Lukaku, Armando Broja, Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell all have no futures at Stamford Bridge, while the situations of Angelo, Deivid Washington, David Datro Fofana, Cesare Casadei and Carney Chukwuemeka are also uncertain.
Chelsea overcame Servette 2-0 in Thursday's Europa Conference League qualifying playoff first leg and are back in Premier League action away to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.
Ben Knapton
