BOURNEMOUTH have announced the signing of Kepa Arrizabalaga on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
The 29-year-old will remain at the Vitality Stadium until next July.
Kepa Arrizabalaga has joined Bournemouth[/caption]Kepa has continued to fall down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge in recent years.
He was loaned out to Real Madrid last season but made just 20 appearances.
And he returned to London this summer to find that his squad number had been stripped.
New Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca had no intention of including the goalkeeper in his plans for this season.
He subsequently put him in a so-called ‘bomb squad’ – a group of players training separately at the club’s Surrey base.
Although his future at Stamford Bridge is in doubt, Kepa signed a one-year contract extension before departing for Bournemouth.
His deal was originally due to expire at the end of this season, meaning he would have left in a free transfer if he didn’t agree to an extension.
SunSport exclusively revealed last week that Kepa held talks with Cherries boss Andoni Iraola over a season-long loan spell.
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But the bigger concern should be if somehow, some way, Todd Boehly’s insane master-plan brings about success this season.
Finish in the top four. Win a trophy like the FA Cup.
He will then turn around and say: “See, it works” and all of a sudden, other clubs will begin considering copying this mad model to try and compete in the Premier League.
Before you know it, there will be a bigger divide between the top clubs and the rest and this country’s top flight will become something we have been fighting against — a Super League.
The smaller sides and promoted teams will be wiped out by the elite and will end up saying, ‘What’s the point?’
Football as we know it will change, and there will be no going back.
As a neutral, you don’t want to wish failure on a club or a regime, but it’s depressing to think about.
We should almost be looking at it in amazement — the owners have come in with this model and they’ve treated it as if they are buying stocks and shares, not players or human beings.
Boehly has wiped away any sense of sentiment or old-school values from that club and the worrying thing is that he doesn’t seem to care.
Does he even like football?
Read Troy Deeney’s hard-hitting opinion on Boehly’s Chelsea shambles in full.
Or check out all of Troy’s columns on SunSport.
He received assurances that he will be first choice goalkeeper when he completes the move.
That means he could be in line to start for the Cherries against Everton on Saturday.
Discussing Kepa’s arrival on the south coast, Bournemouth chief executive Neill Blake said: “We are delighted to bring a player of Kepa’s calibre to AFC Bournemouth.
“We were aware of his availability and were keen to take the opportunity to bring him to the club on loan.
“We believe he will be an exciting addition to our talented goalkeeping department.”
Kepa joined Chelsea in a £72.6million transfer from Athletic Bilbao in 2018 and remains the world’s most expensive goalkeeper.
The Spain international has made just 108 appearances for the Blues in six years since joining.
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He told Sky Sports: “Chelsea have just got to stop buying players and players have got to stop signing for Chelsea.
“If I was a player and look at Chelsea, why would you sign?
“The only reason you’d sign is because someone might say – your agent might say – ‘We’re getting a seven-year deal’.
“You know what I’d say? ‘Back yourself as a player, sign a four-year deal at a proper club and back yourself to do well’.
“And then when you’re due for renewal your money goes up anyway.
“I don’t understand why you’d sign a seven-year deal. Back yourself.”
He continued: “All players need competition. But every team I played in there were seven or eight players who knew they were playing every week.
“Then you’ve got six or seven players who are fighting for three positions, and then you’ve got another six players who know they are squad players.”
And of the Blues’ swollen array of talent, Carragher asked: “Where are they going to fit in the changing room?
“How are you going to put on a training session.”
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Chelsea have reportedly made a sensational move to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney.
Liverpool are also eyeing a cut-price deal for Juventus outcast Federico Chiesa.
Meanwhile, Saudi club Al Ahli have submitted an initial bid of £55million to Napoli for Chelsea target Victor Osimhen.
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