Chelsea must sell £150,000 to ace Granovskaia was ‘excited’ to sign

In the 2018/19 season, Chelsea spent €208.80 million (£172.4 million) making three big permanent signings for Maurizio Sarri, along with two loan deals for Mateo Kovacic and Gonzalo Higuaín.

During this season, the Blues finished third in the Premier League and won the UEFA Europa League, beating Arsenal 4-1 in Baku. Jorginho was seen as the most important of these signings, as he played a key role for Sarri at Napoli, and he was looking to translate that system to the Premier League, bringing the Italian midfielder with him.

But the most expensive signing of that summer has caused controversy from the first moment, from the moment he refused to be replaced, until the current moment, in which he is clearly not worth the salary he earns at the club.

Chelsea’s costly transfer mistake

Chelsea signed Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao for a fee of around £71.6 millionHe arrived to replace Thibaut Courtois, who signed for Real Madrid for around £35 million in the same summer window.

Speaking at that time, Blues conductor Marina Granovskaia He described his excitement at the capture of the 23-year-old, stating:

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The former Bilbao native He played 160 games for the club.keeping 59 clean sheets, conceding 175 goals and a total of 14,523 minutes played, he has failed to convince in the last six years.

The Spanish goalkeeper was often criticized for his form at Chelsea, with pundit Ian Wright stating in 2023 that he simply “make too many mistakes“In fact, in the 2020/21 campaign, for example, he led the division among his fellow goalkeepers, when it came to errors that led to goals (three).

The 30 year old man is earning £150k a week at Chelseabut he is currently on loan at Bournemouth this season, with Cherries pays half his salary (£75,000).

But when he returns to the club next season, Kepa will have one year left on his contract, which will take him until June 2026.

While Chelsea’s goalkeeping position is far from secure, the club will want to pass on Kepa’s high wages, keeping their current selection of goalkeepers on more reasonable salaries and potentially looking to acquire a new number one when the time is right.

How Kepa compares to current Chelsea goalkeepers

Robert Sánchez was signed from Brighton in 2023 and joined the club for a fee of around £25 million. Since joining, the 27-year-old has He made 36 appearances in all competitions.conceding 48 goals, keeping eight clean sheets and adding a total of 3,234 minutes played.

Chelsea also made another signing in this department during the summer, acquiring Filip Jorgensen from Villarreal for a fee of around £20.7 million. The 22-year-old has So far he has played ten games for the Bluesconceding only nine goals, keeping four clean sheets and adding a total of 900 minutes played.

When comparing the performances of the three goalkeepers this season, Kepa has the worst save percentage despite conceding the most shots against him, has conceded the most goals per 90 and has made the fewest passes (mainly due to Bournemouth’s direct style of play).

Chelsea’s two current options have performed better, making more saves despite facing fewer shots, conceding fewer goals per 90, making more passes per 90 and stopping more crosses/controlling their area better.

Considering that both Sánchez and Jorgensen are performing better and receiving lower salaries (earning £60,000 per week and £50,000 per week respectively), Chelsea should try to sign Granovskaia at the end of the season, whether it is a Bournemouth on a permanent deal or elsewhere.

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