Kepa Arrizabalaga is currently back with Chelsea after his season away on loan with Real Madrid, but is reportedly training only with the development squad, making it quite clear that his future lies away from the club.
Where specifically that future may be is of course the big question — and has been the big question ever since it became clear that he wasn’t our long-term answer at the goalkeeping position despite the (still) world record fee we thought fit to spend on him in 2018.
Recently, rumors of potential interest from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad emerged, but according to The Athletic, we have “turned down an initial offer” from them (Al-Ittihad is also where N’Golo Kanté’s playing.)
The report does not mention how much the offer was, nor how much we might be looking for, but Kepa’s book value is surely not that high anymore (about £10m plus annual wages), in the final year of his seven-year contract, so unless the offer was insultingly low, the rejection is a bit of a surprise.
The report does mention that “talks are continuing” with Al-Ittihad as well as “other suitors”, so presumably we can work something out with someone. Real Madrid themselves may be back in the picture as well, as they’ve yet to resolve Andriy Lunin’s contract situation and might opt to bring back Kepa as Thibaut Courtois’s backup.