As per the Monday tabloids, Chelsea have earmarked two potential replacements for goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Spanish goalkeeper had fallen out of favour at Chelsea with Frank Lampard opting to play the experienced Willy Caballero instead – but he was reinstated for yesterday’s 4-0 win over Everton.
Now, Spanish giants Real Madrid have reportedly set their sights on a move for the troubled Chelsea stopper, thus opening the door for the Blues to sign a big money replacement.
Could Marc-Andre Ter Stegen solve the keeper issues at Chelsea?
According to the reports in the morning papers, Barcelona stopper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen is considering his future at the Nou Camp having “fallen out with Lionel Messi”. Since making the move to Spain back in 2014, the German has represented Barcelona on 224 occasions, keeping 94 clean sheets in that period.
He has also amassed a decent collection of winners medals too, having picked up four La Liga titles, four Copa Del Rey titles, three Supercopa’s, one Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup.
Now though, if the reports of a rift with Messi are true, it seems he will be on his way out of the Spanish champions this summer. Chelsea forked out a club record £72m for Kepa 18 months ago, and would surely have to fork out a similar fee for Ter Stegen.
We often use TransferMarkt as a reference point for player valuations, and they value Ter Stegen at £81m while they value Kepa Arrizabalaga at £36m. TransferMarkt’s valuation of Kepa has actually decreased significantly in recent times – dropping from £54m since January.
Ter Stegen would present a top class replacement for Kepa, but it has the potential to be a very difficult deal to complete for the Blues. Due to that, he isn’t the only option Frank Lampard has his sights set on…
Could Dean Henderson be a better option?
According to the Daily Star, the other keeper Chelsea have their eye on his Manchester United’s Dean Henderson – currently on loan at Sheffield United. Henderson is a big part of a Sheffield United team that have seriously impressed this season and currently sit seventh in the Premier League.
With David De Gea still standing (kinda) strong between the sticks at Old Trafford, it seems unlikely Henderson will get much in the way of game-time at Manchester United next season. As a result, his best option might be to look for a move away from Manchester – and Chelsea would offer a brilliant option.
In his 76 appearances for Sheffield United, he has kept an impressive 32 clean sheets – 11 of which came this season, 10 in the Premier League. Henderson is yet to actually make an appearance for the senior side as Manchester United and has spent the last two seasons on loan Bramall Lane.
A move to Chelsea would see Henderson join up with a lot of the young England stars. Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori, Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi have all made made their impression at Chelsea this season, and have started to make their way into the England senior team.
From the standpoint of an England fan, which I am, I’d be silly not to want to see Henderson playing with all these other young England stars. He’d also likely be a much cheaper option than Ter Stegen would be for Chelsea, with a larger resale value due to the fact he is still just 22-year-old, so it makes perfect business sense too.
The TransferMarkt valuation of Henderson is currently £16m, but with his form this season and the fact he is likely to be in the England Euro 2020 squad, I can only see that continuing to rise in the coming months.
All-in-all, if Chelsea are to try and secure Henderson this summer, I’d expect him to cost the Blues somewhere north of £30m. Two good options for Chelsea – personally, I know which one I would like to see happen.
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