Chelsea are having regrets about the £71 million they paid to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga two years ago.
The 25-year-old has made a series of errors during his time at the club that have seemingly cost him his place as the No.1 goalkeeper.
Edouard Mendy was brought in from Rennes last week and impressed Frank Lampard in his debut against Tottenham in the EFL Cup.
“I thought he was very good,” Lampard said after Mendy’s performance, per the Daily Mail.
“Very, very pleased with every part of his game, really.”
Kepa made mistakes against Brighton and Liverpool and is now facing a prolonged period of time on the bench.
The Spaniard’s woes have made things difficult for the Blues, who are struggling in their attempts to offload the goalkeeper.
According to The Sun, director Marina Granovskaia is refusing to take a significant financial hit on the £71m Chelsea paid Athletic Bilbao for Kepa in 2018.
Chelsea have set Kepa’s asking price at around £60m but haven’t been able to find a club willing to fork out that much for the ‘keeper.
It’s left the Blues seeking a loan move for Kepa, but they’re not even able to do that.
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit European football badly and clubs aren’t willing to pay Kepa’s £150,000-a-week wages to sign him on loan.
The Sun note that the only way Chelsea could offload Kepa before the transfer window closes on Monday is if they agree to pay at least half his wages.
But even then, interest in the stopper isn’t high. So it’s looking likely that Chelsea will be stuck with Kepa and will have to pay £5m in wages just for him to be a backup this season.
This is turning into an expensive disaster for the London side.