Besiktas are being linked with a summer move for Kepa Arrizabalaga, with the Arsenal goalkeeper already facing questions over his future just one year after arriving from Chelsea.
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I think it’s safe to say that two things are true about Kepa Arrizabalaga at Arsenal, three if you add in that I’m still not sure how to spell his surname without looking it up.
Firstly, signing him seemed like a good move.
Kepa is a solid keeper who is too good to be a number two but not quite good enough to be number one at the clubs he wants to play for.
The second thing is that nobody who supports Arsenal thinks he is up to the task of replacing David Raya should we need him.
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Signed in the summer from from Chelsea for €5.8m, the 31-year-old is under contract until 2028 in London but Besiktas are eyeing him as a potential signing this summer with his value down from a high of €60m in 2019 to just €7m today.
Ideally, they want to sign Filip Jörgensen from Chelsea, who has a value of more than twice that of Kepa and is under contract until 2031.
That is all probably a bit pricey for a club whose total team is worth just €60m more than Bukayo Saka. Besiktas’s record fee is €30m – the only time they paid above €20m for a player, and they have paid more than €8m for a player just seven times in their history.
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According to a report out of Turkey, Besiktas see Liam Rosenior‘s sacking as the perfect chance to move for Jörgensen, who was preferred by Rosenior to Robert Sanchez but is currently sidelined after groin surgery. He has already been sidelined for 50 days and there is no date for his return at the time of writing.
Sabahclaim that Jörgensen is open to the idea of a move in search of more regular playing time, however, if that move does not happen, they are assessing the chances of signing Kepa from Arsenal.
Should Kepa decide to move on this summer, it’s hard to see Arsenal standing in his way.
