Abramovic's big 2018 Chelsea signing is "not working out", his value has plummeted 82% - opinion

Kepa Arrizabalaga‘s resurgence as Chelsea‘s first-choice goalkeeper has sadly done little to justify the transfer fee that the Blues paid back in 2018.

How much is Chelsea star Kepa Arrizabalaga worth now?

The Spanish shot-stopper would join from Athletic Bilbao in a £71.6m deal, which remains the world-record fee for a goalkeeper, with the 23-year-old arriving as a replacement for Thibaut Courtois.

While the Belgian ‘keeper has reaffirmed his status as one of the best in the world during his time at Real Madrid, Chelsea’s replacement has proven to be far less successful.

The Spain international would make a huge number of mistakes during his first few seasons with the club and he was eventually relegated to second-choice following the signing of Edouard Mendy from Rennes in 2020.

However, an injury suffered by the Senegalese star has meant that Kepa has been first-choice for much of this season, and he has looked a lot more solid in his appearances, keeping 11 clean sheets in 20 games.

The man in between the sticks has averaged a strong 7.02 rating from WhoScored for his performances in the top flight, which ranks him as the sixth-best performer at Stamford Bridge, so things are certainly looking up for him under Graham Potter.

He still hasn’t won over Ian Wright, however, as the Arsenal legend criticised the goalkeeper on a recent episode of his Wrighty’s House Podcast.

He said (via Daily Mail): “I’m looking at Kepa and I’m sorry man but it’s not working out. The man makes too many mistakes. He looks very nervy. When you look at Fulham’s goals and the Manchester City goal, I think Kepa has to do better.”

Now 28, it is no surprise that Kepa’s market value according to Transfermarkt has plummeted during his time at Stamford Bridge.

When the keeper arrived as a promising youngster he was obviously worth a great deal of money but now they value him at just €15m (£12.5m), which represents a worrying 82% dip from the original fee.

While new chairman Todd Boehly has sanctioned some eye-watering transfers during his time with the club, some of which will undoubtedly not work out, Roman Abramovich was also guilty of this during his stint at Stamford Bridge.

Unfortunately for the Russian billionaire and Chelsea, their signing of Kepa five years ago will have to go down as a transfer disaster due to his disappointing performances and declining market value.

Source

from FootballFanCast.com https://ift.tt/yuxdhpN
via IFTTT