The Chelsea board don't get too much wrong. But the deal which took Kepa Arrizabalga to Stamford Bridge remains something of a black mark on the club's record in the transfer market and was chief among the deals in recent years that prompted questions which hadn't been asked before.
Flopped transfer deals, protracted negotiations for players and a series of fallouts with different managers pockmarked the transfer windows that started during Antonio Conte's time at the club and continued until the summer that saw the likes of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz arrive under Frank Lampard. It has taken so long for the board to offload some of the deadwood that they had purchased. Some fringe players still remain on Chelsea’s wage books, blocking the potential for more necessary transfers.
But, finally, there looks to be some light emerging at the end of the tunnel with the Premier League’s second-highest-paid goalkeeper potentially leaving this summer amid reports of Chelsea expecting interest.
