“Chelsea’s offer seems to be important, €50m” – Replacements being lined up, transfer closing in

Kepa Arrizabalaga to Chelsea hasn’t yet proven to be a transfer worth the money spent.

The Spaniard has had such a rocky season that Frank Lampard dropped him for a prolonged spell, which ultimately led to rumours around Europe.

As some of the Spanish media had it, Kepa was being used as a scapegoat by the Chelsea manager, and his treatment at the Premier League club was unfair.

For the rest, it enabled transfer rumours, with claims of Chelsea being interested in a string of footballers. Some of the links have seemed close to absurd, such as reports from Germany about interest in Manuel Neuer.

Those claims appeared to be motivated by the desire for a new contract at Bayern Munich.

Over in Italy, Gianluigi Donnarumma has been linked. With his AC Milan contract expiring in June 2021, and no sign of a renewal, the 21 year old’s future has been under some doubt, and there’s been the inevitable links with Chelsea.

Carlo Pellegatti, a journalist with a long record of covering Milan, has been speaking this week about the goalkeeper, and is quoted by Milan News as saying: “If Donnarumma were to go away, because Chelsea’s offer seems to be important, €50m, who could be his substitute? There are interesting goalkeepers, Rajković from Reims and Carnesecchi from Trapani on loan from Atalanta, but they are similar figures to that of Plizzari, who will return from the loan to Livorno. 

“However, there is a goalkeeper from ’93, 27 years old and therefore in full maturity, in the orbit of the Argentine national team which expires in June 2020. He would therefore arrive at zero and for a few weeks belongs to the Mino Raiola team. He is the goalkeeper of Nice… Walter Benítez.”

Whilst Milan’s potential interest in Benitez would mean little to Chelsea, it’s clear the Italian club are already thinking about potential replacements for Donnarumma.