Chelsea Trigger Kepa Arrizabalaga's £71.6M Release Clause

Chelsea are on the verge of signing Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga after triggering his £71.6 million release clause.

The Basque club (via Joe Prince-Wright of NBC Sports) confirmed as much on Wednesday:

The Guardian's Dominic Fifield reported the fee and noted the Spanish stopper is on his way to Stamford Bridge to complete the move.

Per Marca (h/t Sport Witness), Chelsea intend to announce their new signing on Thursday after Kepa decided the "approach was just too good to turn down."

Sport Witness added the Blues also moved for Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak but he turned them down, while they had to meet Kepa's release clause as Athletic refused to negotiate.

Should the deal go through as expected, Kepa would become the most expensive goalkeeper of all time, eclipsing the £66.8 million Liverpool paid to sign Alisson from Roma just last month. 

The 23-year-old's arrival at Stamford Bridge will surely signal the departure of Thibaut Courtois.

Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images

The Belgian has long been linked with Real Madrid and reportedly refused to return to training in an attempt to force a move to the Santiago Bernabeu, per Matt Law of the Telegraph.

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri refused to comment on Courtois' future after Tuesday's pre-season victory over Lyon, but he was complimentary about Kepa, per the Press Association (h/t MailOnline): "If I don't know anything about Courtois, I don't know anything about Kepa, of course. I saw [Kepa] one year ago. My first impression was that he is a very good goalkeeper, very young, but very, very good."

Kepa will have big boots to fill if he moves to Stamford Bridge to replace Courtois, and Chelsea arguably made a mistake by not bidding for Alisson when they had the chance, per ESPN FC's Liam Twomey:

However, he is a hugely talented goalkeeper and has been No. 1 at the San Mames Stadium for the last two seasons:

Should he live up to his potential, he could be Chelsea's No. 1 for a decade or more, which would make the proposed £71.6 million transfer fee a fine investment.