According to Nizaar Kinsella of Goal, new Blues manager Maurizio Sarri will be looking to add to his attacking ranks in the coming months as he settles in at Stamford Bridge, and Pulisic could be a key target. 

Chelsea reportedly remain interested in signing Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic

Chelsea endured a disrupted pre-season because many of their players were at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while it took until July 14 for Sarri to be appointed as Antonio Conte‘s replacement.

Jorginho, Rob Green, Mateo Kovacic and Kepa Arrizabalaga were signed during the transfer window, but the most important attacking business Chelsea did was to keep Eden Hazard at the club.

The Belgium international is Chelsea’s most important attacking player, and he was heavily linked to Real Madrid, but the Spanish giants look to have dropped their interest because of Hazard’s huge price tag.

The United States international might find his way to Stamford bridge

Sarri is likely to take some time to implement his methods at Chelsea and work out what is needed for him to build a title-winning squad.

One of the Blues’ obvious deficiencies last term was in front of goal. They only managed to score 62 goals in the Premier League in 2017-18, 23 fewer than they netted while winning the title the season before. A player like Pulisic would be helpful in solving that problem as, despite only being 19, he is brilliantly creative.

The United States international is not himself that prolific just yet. In the past two Bundesliga seasons, during which he has been a key part of the Dortmund first team, he has netted seven goals and provided 11 assists in 61 appearances.

But he has the talent to develop that area of his game. And at Chelsea, he could also help unlock the goal scoring talent of Alvaro Morata, who managed only 11 goals in his debut Premier League season.

Chelsea will likely look to reassess their squad midway through the 2018-19 season when Sarri has had a few months in the job. And whether it be in the January transfer window or next summer, Pulisic looks set to be a prominent target for the west London club.

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The Blues agreed to make the Athletic Bilbao No 1 the most expensive shot-stopper in history on Tuesday as they look to replace Real Madrid-bound Thibaut Courtois.

And the stunning deal moved a step closer to completion on Wednesday morning as lawyers representing Kepa and Chelsea deposited the record fee at 9.22am.

Kepa Arrizabalaga was pictured at Madrid Airport on Tuesday ahead of his move to Chelsea

Lawyers Enric Ripoll Gonzalez and Paolo Torchetti, from De Ruiz-Huerta and Crespo lawyers in Valencia, represented the Premier League side, while the payment was made through the player’s lawyers and Margarita Garay, general director of Bahia Internacional. She was accompanied by lawyers Rodrigo Garcia and Alvaro Reig de Laffer. 

In keeping with the way release clauses work in Spain, Chelsea paid the giant £72m fee to Kepa, who then instructed his lawyers to deposit it with La Liga. The money will then be distributed to Athletic Bilbao when all paperwork is completed.

The Spanish club confirmed that Kepa had paid his release clause and thanked him for his contribution in a statement on their official website. 

Margarita Garay, general director of Bahia Internacional, arrives at La Liga’s headquarters to pay Kepa’s release clause on Wednesday morning

Kepa, who was pictured at Madrid Airport on Tuesday night, did not attend the meeting on Wednesday morning as he prepares to fly from Getafe to London.

The 23-year-old will undergo a medical and put pen to paper on a long-term deal, which will trigger Courtois’ departure to Real for a fee of around £35m. 

The deal for Kepa outstrips the £66.8m paid by Liverpool for Alisson last month. The Brazilian was Chelsea’s first choice to replace Courtois, but he was keen to work with Jurgen Klopp.

Courtois has angered Chelsea by staying away from training in recent days in a bid to push through his move to the European champions, who are expected to offer Mateo Kovacic on loan as part of the deal.

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Chelsea focused attention on Kepa with time running out in the window and concerns over their other options. Sevilla’s Sergio Rico and Stoke’s Jack Butland, while both considerably cheaper, had been more inconsistent.

Kepa almost joined Madrid himself in January only for the deal to fall through with his price at just £17.5m. Serie A side Napoli, then under the guidance of Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, also expressed an interest.

Chelsea are to pay a world record £72million fee for the talented Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper

Madrid instead decided to keep the door ajar for Courtois after he showed a willingness to join them. As a consequence, Kepa was rewarded with a new £60,000-a-week contract at Athletic but saw his buyout clause rise to £72m.

Though young and relatively raw, 6ft 3in Kepa is regarded as one of the best prospects to emerge from Spain and was named in his country’s World Cup squad.

The deal will trigger Thibaut Courtois’ departure to Real Madrid, who have made a £35m bid

He trained with Bilbao on Tuesday morning before getting the all-clear to travel to Madrid. He is expected to sign a five-year contract worth £5m a year after tax and be in contention to make his Premier League debut away at Huddersfield on Saturday.

Real Madrid midfielder Kovacic, 24, was identified by Chelsea as an alternative to Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey with Sarri looking to partner him with Jorginho and Kante in his new-look engine room.

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The post Chelsea pay £72m release clause for Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.