Source: Kepa's loan exit amid 12th Chelsea signing
Bournemouth have agreed a deal to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga on loan from Chelsea, sources have told ESPN.
The 29-year-old is expected to sign a one-year contract extension with the club so they can protect his transfer value before he undergoes a medical on Tuesday at the south coast team.
Arrizabalaga’s deal at Stamford Bridge will now run to July 2026 and sources say his move to Bournemouth will not include an option or obligation to make the move permanent.
He will be reunited at Bournemouth with head coach Andoni Iraola after the pair were both on the books as players at Athletic Club nine years ago.
Arrizabalaga became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper when moving from Athletic Club to Chelsea in August 2018 for €80 million ($89.3m).
He won the Europa League during his first season but fell out of favour during Frank Lampard’s tenure as head coach before the club moved to sign Édouard Mendy as his replacement in September 2020.
Arrizabalaga enjoyed something of a renaissance under Graham Potter during the 2022-23 campaign but spent last season on loan at Real Madrid, where he made 19 starts as cover for Thibaut Courtois, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee.
Meanwhile, Chelsea announced the signing of goalkeeper Mike Penders on Tuesday, bringing their tally for players brought in this summer to 12.
Penders, 19, joins for a reported €20m ($22.3m) from Genk in the Belgian Pro League, and will return to the club on loan to continue his development.
The Belgium under-19 international has made two senior appearances for Genk, the first of which came against Standard Liege in July.
Penders follows Pedro Neto, Tosin Adarabioyo, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Filip Jörgensen, Omari Kellyman, Aaron Anselmino, Caleb Wiley, Renato Veiga, Marc Guiu and João Félix in arriving at the west London club, with Estêvão Willian having agreed to join the club in 2025.
Chelsea already have five goalkeepers listed in their first team after Kepa’s exit: Robert Sánchez, Lucas Bergstrom, Jörgensen, Djordje Petrovic and Marcus Bettinelli.
Chelsea’s head coach Enzo Maresca has said the focus now will be on outgoings in order to streamline the club’s squad and finances.
“The target is to solve the economic problem in terms of selling players,” Maresca told Chelsea’s website. “From there, we try to do our best and see where we arrive.”
Chelsea’s struggles to offload players are well documented, with England internationals Ben Chilwell and Raheem Sterling among a group of about 15 high earners frozen out by the manager and not training with the first team.
“For us, the target in this moment is to improve players. No one from the club asked me to compete for the Premier League, or compete for a Champions League spot,” Maresca added.
“I want to see my team play the way we want to play, and compete every game. I want to see on the ball a clear idea of what they want, and off the ball, a very aggressive team. The most important thing is to be better game after game.”
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
