Report: Chelsea Agree Record Fee for Ex-Real Madrid Target Kepa Arrizabalaga

Chelsea have reportedly agreed to pay Athletic Bilbao £71.6 million for the signature of Kepa Arrizabalaga and make him the most expensive goalkeeper of all time, six months after he almost joined Real Madrid for a quarter of the fee.

The Guardian's Dominic Fifield wrote that Chelsea will pay Kepa's €80 million (£71.6 million) release clause, with incumbent No. 1 and Real Madrid target Thibaut Courtois having recently gone AWOL to force a transfer:

It's understood Kepa will fly to London on Wednesday and will beat the £67 million Liverpool paid for their new stopper Alisson earlier this summer. A business coup for the Basque club after Athletic came close to selling the 23-year-old to Real for just £17.9 million in the winter.

Courtois appears to be pushing for an exit before Thursday's summer transfer deadline after entering the last year of his deal, with the Blues now under pressure to secure his replacement before the window closes.

That being said, ESPN FC's Liam Twomey argued Kepa would be considered a recruit made in a knee-jerk reaction and that Alisson was more deserving of his soon-to-be-former world-record goalkeeper status:

After a fairly slow summer transfer window, it appears Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is willing to spend big to ensure his team is sufficiently covered in a key area. The club already paid Napoli £50 million to reunite manager Maurizio Sarri with midfield star Jorginho.

Chelsea triggering Kepa's release clause marks the latest edition in a whirlwind sequence of events for the Athletic product these past nine months, per journalist Kristof Terreur:

Goal's Nizaar Kinsella reported he wouldn't be the only late signing from Spain, either, with Mateo Kovacic set to make the temporary switch from Real Madrid:

Chelsea's summer always looked to be stunted after it took time to officially announce Sarri as manager, with the club's pre-season delayed as Antonio Conte's departure from the helm dragged.

Kepa may not be ready to justify the expenditure required to sign him for some time, just as it took David De Gea time to grow into his role at Manchester United after leaving Atletico Madrid at the age of 20.

Courtois' exit has forced their hand, but Chelsea stand to benefit from the acquisition of a young and hungry prospect who might have ended up at Real were it nor for Zinedine Zidane's faith in Keylor Navas.

Chelsea open their Premier League campaign at Huddersfield Town on Saturday and will hope to have Kepa learning by Sarri's hand by then as they look to pass the stewardship onto another star of La Liga.