The transfer rumour mill keeps on churning despite the lack of football being played in La Liga, and this week it’s thrown up a new solution to Valencia’s goalkeeping situation.
Los Che did a kind of goalie shuffle with Barcelona last summer, letting their main man Neto go in return for Barca’s long-time backup, Jesper Cillessen.
It hasn’t worked out. Neto is sitting on the bench behind Marc-Andre Ter Stegen in the Nou Camp, and Cillessen hasn’t particularly impressed now he’s finally got his chance as a full-time number one in La Liga
There have even been suggestions that Valencia might bid to bring their old number one back, and if he’s fed up with not playing that’s a feasible move.
But Sport in Catalonia have proposed a more outlandish possibility: Kepa Arrizabalaga from Chelsea. It’s a nice idea – the Europa League holders were so fed up with the Basque’s performances through this season that he was actually dropped for Willy Caballero for a period in the spring, and it’s easy to see them being keen to get rid of him if a good opportunity opens up.
But there are just too many obstacles on both sides to make this particular move seem an easy fit. Chelsea would have to sign a new top-class goalkeeper to replace their record signing. Valencia would likely have to find a taker for Cillessen too.
Even a loan seems an unsatisfactory arrangement – it’s hard to see both sides messing around with such an important role in the team, just to effectively defer their respective issues in the position for another season or two.
Even more significantly, all of this would have to happen in a severely truncated transfer window after the remaining games in both La Liga and the Premier League are finished. As it stands the number of difficulties fixing the deal on both ends make it look very unlikely, in any form.
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“I’d rather have a hole in the squad than an a**ehole” – who said this about his team? Find out here.
