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Chelsea have made Jan Oblak of Atlético Madrid their number one target to replace Kepa Arrizabalaga in goal.
Kepa became the world’s most expensive keeper when he moved to Chelsea in a £71.5 million move from Athletic Bilbao in 2015, but he has had a difficult season, forcing the club to consider possible alternatives.
And now they may need to smash that record if they want to sign Oblak, who has a £120 million buy-out clause in the contract which he signed last year, committing him to the Spanish capital until 2023.
However, Chelsea are hoping to bring that price down, and are prepared to offer Kepa in part-exchange, with cash used to top-up the deal.
Atlético do not want to sell Oblak, who has made more than 250 appearances for them since joining the club from Benfica’s B side in 2013. However, at the same time, like many clubs, their finances have been affected by the global Coid-19 pandemic, and they might be tempted to cash-in on the 27-year-old Slovenian international.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.