Kepa Arrizabalaga will undergo a medical at Bournemouth ahead of joining the club on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
Bournemouth hope Arrizabalaga’s move will be announced later today (Tuesday).
With his Chelsea contract due to expire at the end of this season, the goalkeeper would have to sign an extension with the west London club to facilitate his loan move to Bournemouth.
The Athletic previously reported that Bournemouth were working on a deal to sign the 29-year-old.
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Arrizabalaga returned to Chelsea this summer following a season on loan at Real Madrid.
Arrizabalaga made 20 appearances on loan at Madrid last season. He was a regular in the first half of the campaign before Andriy Lunin was preferred by head coach Carlo Ancelotti from the midway point of the season.
He was signed by Madrid after the club’s No 1 goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois sustained an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during pre-season training.
Courtois returned to fitness in the closing weeks of the campaign and played in the club’s Champions League final victory over Borussia Dortmund on June 1.
Arrizabalaga’s preference had been to remain at Madrid but the fact that Lunin is still with the Spanish club has seen him return to the Premier League.
Azzirabalaga joined Chelsea from Athletic Bilbao for £71.6 million in the summer of 2018 and has made 163 first-team appearances for the English club, where he has won four trophies including the 2021 Champions League.
Chelsea have goalkeepers Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen and Djordje Petrovic in their first-team squad, alongside Marcus Bettinelli and Lucas Bergstrom. They have also signed Mike Penders from Belgian side Genk but will he officially join next summer.
Additional reporting: Caoimhe O’Neill and Simon Johnson
(Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)
