Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Chelsea transfer news: Kepa arrives at airport for talks with £72m deal agreed
CHELSEA have agreed to sign goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga - and he has arrived at Madrid Airport to complete his move.
Chelsea will pay £72m for Kepa with the 23-year-old set to replace Thibaut Courtois.
His arrival from Athletic Bilbao will mean Courtois is free to join Real Madrid.
And Kepa is already on his way to Chelsea - via a diversion to Madrid.
It is understood Kepa flew from Bilbao to Madrid this afternoon, landing at 17:21 BST (18:21 local time).
The goalkeeper was accompanied by representatives Margarita Garay and Gustavo Canizares.
He will finalise his terms with Chelsea in the Spanish capital tonight before heading to London on Wednesday morning.
Kepa will have a medical at Chelsea and could be announced as a new Blues player as early as Wednesday afternoon.
However, depending on when La Liga get the documents for the transfer, the deal may not be 100 per cent signed off until Thursday.
Kepa Arrizabalaga's top five saves from the LaLiga season
The Premier League’s transfer deadline is set for 5pm on Thursday and signing a new goalkeeper has been Chelsea’s priority since Courtois made it known he wanted to leave the club.
The Blues will earn around £35m for Courtois, whose contract is due to expire next summer.
Chelsea did not want to lose the Belgium international on a free transfer and the goalkeeper himself is keen to move to Madrid for family reasons.
Kepa was actually wanted at Real Madrid earlier this year but the Spanish side decided not to act on his £17.5m release clause in January.
He signed a new contract until 2025 after the winter transfer window closed, which quadrupled his release clause and ended Real’s interest.