The two players on the shortlist to succeed Kepa Arrizabalaga include the Borussia Dortmund star.
Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly considering other Premier League goalkeepers besides Gregor Kobel, who Chelsea have set their sights on buying from Borussia Dortmund this summer.
Gregor Kobel joined Borussia Dortmund when?
Kobel first arrived at the Signal Iduna Park from Stuttgart back in 2021 and has since established himself as Edin Terzic’s official number one goalkeeper, accruing a total of 75 appearances in goal to date. However, there’s a chance he could be moving on as he has previously been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge.
When Edouard Mendy left for Al-Ahli in April, the Blues saw the 25-year-old as the perfect replacement, but a transfer was not likely to happen, according to Sky Sports writer Florian Plettenberg. He stated:
News regarding Kobel: Chelsea has addressed Kobel internally while keeping an eye on the goalkeeper market. They maintain close communication with his agents as well. but not any further at this time. It is not warm. In the summer, Kobel is almost certain to remain at #BVB, and #CFC has other candidates on their list.
Although Kepa Arrizabalaga has been made a top target by Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich, Todd Boehly is looking to take another shot at the shot-stopper he previously decided not to pursue. The Switzerland international still has three years left on his contract in Germany.
Gregor Kobel is being signed by Chelsea.
The Evening Standard claims that Giorgi Mamardashvili of Valencia and Kobel are the two goalkeepers Chelsea is “looking” at for the next summer transfer window.
Bayern is reportedly “preparing” a loan offer with a buyout clause for Kepa, and the club is “unlikely to stand in his way,” thus a replacement will be required should he leave. Kepa is reportedly “open to joining Bayern,” suggesting that a transfer would be necessary.
How many sheets has Gregor Kobel actually kept clean?
As a “top class” goalkeeper, Kobel was praised by journalist Josh Bunting last season after keeping 11 clean sheets from 27 games in the Bundesliga. If Kobel decides to leave Borussia Dortmund and join Chelsea to work with the Argentine, Pochettino would be given a huge boost.
The Zurich native, who makes £33k a week, also had a success rate of 73.9% from 119 shots on target against him according to FBRef, which is slightly higher than Kepa’s 73.3% and indicates that he would be an improvement over the manager’s current first option.
Standing at 6 feet 4 inches, Tuchel’s colossus also has an excellent range of passing, having completed 99.1% of his medium attempts and 100% of his short attempts during the previous season. For a player with such a knack for picking passes to his outfield teammates, this should be a deal that chiefs easily close if the opportunity arises in the final weeks of the window.