Chelsea boss Frank Lampard planning to hold showdown talks with flop Kepa Arrizabalaga after Edouard Mendy transfer
FRANK LAMPARD will hold showdown talks with Kepa Arrizabalaga after landing Edouard Mendy.
The £71.6million Spaniard, the world’s most expensive keeper, is likely to lose his place as Chelsea’s No1 following the Frenchman’s arrival on Thursday.
Arrizabalaga, 25, signed two years ago but a string of high profile mistakes has forced Lampard to delve into the market.
Now the stopper, who earns around £150,000-a-week, faces an uncertain future with nine days left of the transfer window.
Ahead of Chelsea’s clash with West Brom, Lampard said: “I haven’t spoken to Kepa since the announcement came. We trained and I didn’t see him.
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“But I will have a conversation with him and Willy Caballero over the next 24 hours. I have a very open line of communication with them.
“It’s important that goalkeepers have a small union at the training ground because of the way they work together.
“There’s good competition there now, we know that, and that’s how we move forward.”
Arrizabalaga could play his final game for Chelsea against the Baggies with the game coming too soon for Mendy.
Chelsea will be eager to offload the player and balance the books after a summer splurge but finding a buyer could prove tricky with his high wages.
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Mendy, who cost Chelsea £22m from Rennes, is likely to make his debut against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
Lampard added: “[For Mendy] to start tomorrow is not going to happen.
“He has had a long week where he hasn’t really trained, flew in yesterday and it just feels too tight a turnaround to put him in contention to start the game.”