You would probably suspect that Kepa Arrizabalaga might prefer a Chelsea exit this summer after a challenging end to the 2021/22 season where he completely vanished from the starting lineup.
Although he has been firmly second choice since the arrival of Edouard Mendy in September 2020, Thomas Tuchel made an effort early on into his regime to reintegrate the maligned keeper with a series of appearances in the cup competitions.
The penalty shootout heroics against Villarreal, Aston Villa, Southampton and Plymouth showcased a player slowly rebuilding his reputation, even if it was clear he would remain an understudy.
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But it was ironically another shootout that altered the mood, blasting his effort over the bar to decide one of two final defeats to Liverpool at Wembley. Kepa played one more time, three days later away to Luton in the FA Cup. Tuchel was questioned before the end of the season over the 27-year-old's future, with the German revealing honest conversations ahead of the summer.
"It depends what he wants and it depends what his plans are, but I know that we are very privileged to have Edou (Mendy) and Kepa in our squad.
"I know for sure that Kepa is not happy about the situation and he deserves to play more and he can be a strong number one."
Kepa's exorbitant wages and tag as the world's most expensive goalkeeper might be something the new ownership led by Todd Boehly might want to dispense with, where Kepa actually goes remains a major question given the finances involved and the guarantee of a loss for Chelsea.
Who replaces Kepa is the next part of this discussion and without many links to external options, it is believed that academy graduate Nathan Baxter has advocates within the club arguing for his promotion under Tuchel this summer.
Baxter has been on seven different loans since 2016, starting in the non-league with Met Police, Solihull Moors and Yeovil before moving up to the Scottish Premier League with Ross County, then returning to England for his most recent loans in the EFL at Accrington Stanley and Hull City.
In terms of a loan veteran, you cannot get someone more averse than Baxter and despite only 23, he has gained a tremendous amount of senior experience leading him to a place where he could be a part of Chelsea's squad next season.
Baxter gained 18 appearances for Hull last season, 16 coming in the Championship as he competed for the first spot with Matt Ingram.
"He was excellent and made a real difference." Barry Cooper, Hull City correspondent for the Hull Daily Mail tells football.london.
"It was perhaps a happy coincidence that his full league debut came in a much-needed 2-0 win at Barnsley and then followed a six-game unbeaten run which proved key in City's move away from the drop zone in the Championship and towards safety. He has a different approach to Matt Ingram, the man he replaced, and for a period, City looked better for it. Until his injury in late January, Baxter had established himself as the club's number one."
Even though his 16 appearances were spread out across the season, his stats are impressive for a player featuring in a team who finished in 19th, racking up seven clean sheets with a save percentage of 82 for the season via FBRef.
"Baxter is a supremely good shot-stopper and is a very good communicator, while his distribution is very good." Cooper explains.
"Like all goalkeepers, he has a tendency to have a rush of blood to the head and that's something we saw once or twice in the closing weeks of the season, particularly away at Millwall on Easter Monday when he came rushing out of his box for a ball he was never getting, and that moment seemed to unsettle his team thereafter.
"In fairness to Baxter, those mistakes are few and far between and are only exacerbated because of the position he plays and the infrequency of them, essentially they get noticed a bit more than they otherwise would.
"He's played an awful lot of games for somebody so young, but I think he would benefit from another season at Championship level. He's still only 23 and as we know, goalkeepers tend not to mature until they are much older. His experience of Championship football is still limited and time is on his side, but I'm not convinced he's ready to be thrust into the midst of a team expecting to battle for the Premier League title and various other cup competitions."
There is a dilemma over potentially keeping Baxter should Kepa depart. Firstly, is the jump in quality and expectation for a specialist role, playing in a team that dominates the ball, requires the keeper to get involved in the building up of possession and the increased scrutiny.
Then you get into his own development and the very real prospect that as second-choice, Baxter could be left with under 20 appearances when at this stage of his career, the chance of another loan either in the Championship or the Premier League could be more alluring.
You also do have to ponder a scenario where Mendy goes down injured for an extended period. Like Kepa did during AFCON in January, Baxter would automatically become the first choice and would be relied upon to perform instantly.
Compared to outfield positions that could be boosted by Cobham grads filling the squad for Tuchel, the goalkeeper is a different beast entirely. Not only in the unique requirements for that spot but also the potential bottleneck young keepers coming through the club's academy have found themselves in across recent years.
Should Baxter remain and Mendy gets an improved contract, how long would he be willing to stick around as number two? The expiry date on goalkeepers is very different to outfield players, meaning that Mendy could go into his thirties still at a high level as Petr Cech did for the Blues.
It is a complex situation to resolve this summer. Baxter has rightly gained praise for his progression and wherever Chelsea can save money by promoting academy talent it feels like a shrewd choice, though for Baxter's own ambitions it might not provide the game time necessary.
