Reports: Chelsea agree world record £71 million fee to sign Thibaut Courtois' replacement

What's the rumour?

With Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois reportedly missing training for the second consecutive day, he has made his intentions more than clear to push a move to Real Madrid. The Belgian goalkeeper was linked with a move to Madrid very strongly after Belgium's exit from the World Cup.

Courtois' agent was quite clear that his client wanted a move back to Spain where his children reside and that the former Atletico Madrid goalkeeper would do everything possible to push a move to the Los Blancos. It seems Maurizio Sarri wasn't able to convince Courtois to stay and having left the situation this late in the transfer window, Chelsea are left in a tricky situation.

Today Chelsea have been strongly linked to Athletico Bilbao goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to fill in the void that will be left behind by Thibaut Courtois.

In case you didn't know...

Real Madrid have been trying to sign a new goalkeeper from the last two to three seasons. They were linked on multiple occasions to sign Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea but the move never materialized due to some reason or the other. After having faced plenty of difficulties to get a deal done with United, Real Madrid finally turned their heads elsewhere to sign a new goalkeeper and Thibaut Courtois seems the answer to it.

Courtois' children already reside in Spain and this opportunity is the perfect way for him to constantly stay with his family. The 26-year-old goalkeeper has contemplated and given the rarity of such an opportunity, he probably doesn't want to miss this chance to reunite with his family and play for one of the biggest and successful clubs in the football world.

The heart of the matter

Considering how eager Courtois is to move back to Spain, it raises a lot of difficulties for Chelsea and new manager Maurizio Sarri. Willy Caballero hasn't been consistent and reliable between the sticks and with just 2 days left before the transfer window ends, it seems Chelsea have to act very quickly to sign a new goalkeeper.

It has all been left too late and Chelsea are forced to make a new signing at the earliest. Chelsea had Kasper Schmeichel, Jordan Pickford and Jan Oblak as some of their targets to replace Courtois. With the little time left it seems Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga is the only realistic options as none of the Premier League clubs wouldn't risk losing a player this late in the transfer window and Atletico Madrid wouldn't let Oblak leave that easily.

Athletic Bilbao have always been hard negotiators while selling players and given that Chelsea has very much little time to crack a deal, they have made a strong chance and indicated that Chelsea will have to activate Kepa's buy-out clause of £71 million to seal the deal.

Rumour Probability/Rating: 8/10

The rumours of Kepa joining Chelsea have gathered tremendous pace since Tuesday afternoon and although it looks like a panic buy, Chelsea have no option but to go through the transfer to have some security between the sticks for the upcoming Premier League season. Kepa Arrizabalaga will be an interesting prospect to witness.

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What's next?

It is rumoured that Kepa has boarded a flight to Madrid to prepare and travel to England and is expected to arrive in London on Wednesday morning.

Given everything goes well with this move, Chelsea will break their own record signing of £57 million when they signed Alvaro Morata and also break Liverpool's record of £66.8 million paid for a goalkeeper which saw Alisson Becker sign for the Reds.

Also, with Thibaut Courtois edging towards Real Madrid, it is expected that Mateo Kovacic will be loaned to Chelsea for the 2018-19 season. Somehow it feels that the drama for Sarri and Chelsea in this window doesn't end here.