Chelsea is in the hunt for an alternative for the Spaniard goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga next summer as the key position is yet to be properly addressed.
In the 2019/20 season, Kepa Arrizabalaga struggled conceding 47 goals in his 33 Premier League appearances while coming under scrutiny.
Twice during the campaign, including the Champions League match against Bayern Munich, the shot-stopper was dropped for the 38-year-old Willy Caballero.
While Chelsea looks busy in the transfer market, the club is yet to clearly address the key position. This is something they are aiming to do in the coming weeks as there have been numerous names thrown into the mix.
Nick Pope, Mike Maignan, and Andre Onana have all been linked. Meanwhile, the most likely new man is Rennes’ Edouard Mendy.
The 28-year-old Mendy is backed by Petr Cech and goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon to make an impact at Chelsea and overtake Arrizabalaga for the number one place.
There are several players Chelsea could move for. And, looking from the statistical view, there are many candidates.
According to Whoscored, Arrizabalaga averaged 3.11 saves per 90 minutes and conceded 1.39 goals every 90 minutes. The Chelsea NO. 1 averaged 2.82 saves per game when conceding one or fewer goals and ended the campaign with a success rate of 67.9%.
On the other hand, Mendy averaged 2.54 saves per game and conceded 0.79 per 90 minutes. The Senegalese international averaged 2.3 saves per game when conceding one or less and had a 75.3% save success rate.
Another Arrizabalaga potential replacement would be Ugurcan Cakir from Trabzonspor. The 24-year-old had a 70.4 success rate while completing 3.55 saves per game. Cakir also had 3.42 saves per game when conceding one or fewer goals while he conceded 1.25 goals per game.
Certainly, Arrizabalaga has lost favor in Lampard’s eyes at times last campaign. However, the Spaniard is keen to fight for his place with Chelsea.
Nonetheless, if there are alternate options for the Blues, then there are good players likely to replace the No 1 Arrizabalaga.