Chelsea to 'hold talks with' £72.1m star who is desperate to leave the club- Enzo Maresca has final say

Kepa Arrizabalaga is desperate to leave Chelsea this summer and will hold talks with newly appointed manager Enzo Maresca in the coming days as they seek the best solution going forward. 

A source close to the goalkeeper told LondonWorld that the 29-year-old will only return if he’s given a fair chance to fight for his position in the team. “He is expected to hold talks with the manager but he has one year left on his deal and doesn't want to spend it just being on the bench in London. 

“The entire case with Madrid is not closed but it all depends on what Chelsea want to do and of course how the talks with the new manager go because normally in football when there is a new boss everyone gets a fresh start.” 

Despite arriving at Madrid as the first-choice replacement to the then-injured Thibaut Courtois, the Chelsea goalkeeper slipped to third by the time they were winning the Champions League at Wembley, with  Ukrainian Andriy Lunin taking his spot before Courtois returning to fitness in time for the final. 

But sources have said the Spanish goalkeeper is happy in Madrid and will accept another supporting role in the Spanish capital rather than a similar role in west London. Kepa is said to be an ultimate professional when not playing as evidenced by the support he gave to Edouard Mendy who took his spot and led Chelsea to a Champions League triumph in Porto. 

Madrid will be in search of a goalkeeper if Lunin leaves, the Ukrainian recently claimed he did not know why he was not allowed to train with the team leading up to the final. 

Lunin said: “Missing training during UCL final week? They did a virus test, and it showed that I had virus-b, I have no idea what that is, but they told me that it is slightly contagious & I couldn’t train with the team.” 

A source has also said Chelsea will be happy to sell Kepa this summer knowing the 29-year-old will walk away for free next summer.