Chelsea moved swiftly to replace Thibaut Courtois with Kepa Arrizabalaga on deadline day but the Spanish keeper was not the first choice for the Blues, according to The Times (h/t Metro).
Although we paid a record-breaking £71m to sign Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao following Thibaut Courtois’ move to Real Madrid, the report adds that we tried to sign Jan Oblak from Atletico Madrid.
The Slovenian is one of the best keepers in Europe and the report says that the 25-year-old declined a move to England and opted to stay in the La Liga side.
The report also adds that we made a bid of £90m which activated his release clause but he wanted to continue his work under Diego Simeone. The club are reportedly willing to give him a fresh contract and increase his release clause to €250m.
Oblak would have been a good signing to replace Courtois but Kepa Arrizabalaga certainly looked good in his first outing for us in the 3-0 win over Huddersfield yesterday.
The 23-year-old is still young and has a lot of potential, which could see him be the Chelsea No.1 for a number of years.
Read more: “Ruin everything”, “Big mistake” – Some Chelsea fans not pleased with latest departure
Arrizabalaga was a part of the Spanish squad for the World Cup and we might see one of the best keepers develop here at the Bridge in the coming years.
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