Chelsea tells the fringe duo to stay and fight for a place

Chelsea tells Trevoh Chalobah and Kepa Arrizabalaga to stay for this season

According to Evening Standard, Chelsea have asked Kepa Arrizalabaga and Trevoh Chalobah to stay at the club this season and fight for their place amidst heavy interest being shown for the players.

Defender Trevor Chalobah had an impressive last season by becoming a mainstay of the Chelsea backline making 31 appearances and shifting duties alongside Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger and Andres Christensen.

With the departure of Rudiger and Christensen, it was expected that Chalobah would lead the defensive line for the Blues for the coming season.

However, with the new signings of Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana, it felt as if it would be tough for Chalobah to cement his place in the Chelsea starting eleven and therefore, there were rumours about the defender looking to switch clubs.

Italian clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan showed the most concrete interest, however, according to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio (h/t Sport Bible), the two clubs have been informed by Chelsea and the player’s camp that he would be staying at Chelsea for this season at the very least.

Thus showing the belief that Thomas Tuchel has in the player and would very much be looking to count on him in their bid to push higher up the table.

Kepa Arrizabalaga joined Chelsea from Athletic Bilbao for a deal worth £71m, which is the highest transfer fee paid for a goalkeeper. Subsequently, there was a lot of hype around the signing.

It is fair to say that it did not materialise the way the fans or the player would have thought and he had some far from impressive performances as Chelsea’s No.1.

With the signing of Edouard Mendy, he was dropped down to the bench and with the way the Senegalese made the position his own, it looked like a tough move for the Spanish to climb up.

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With the signing of USA U-20 goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina from the Chicago Fire, there were rumours of the player looking to switch in a bid to bolster his World Cup hopes with the Italian side Napoli the most interested.

However, with less than a week to go until the transfer window shuts, it seems highly unlikely that either Chalobah or Kepa would be leaving Stamford Bridge for the current season at least, with Tuchel relying on a good squad depth to tackle the congestion of fixtures during the season.