Nice ‘are interested in signing Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga on loan’ after the Spaniard fell out of favour at Stamford Bridge.
Kepa, 27, played just 15 times for the Blues last season having been supplanted by Edouard Mendy as the club’s No 1 between the sticks.
This has had a knock-on effect on his international career with his last Spain appearance coming back in October 2020.
Given Kepa’s ambition to be part of Luis Enrique’s plans for the World Cup in Qatar this winter, he will need to secure more regular game time at the beginning of next season.
According to Foot Mercato in France, ambitious Ligue 1 club Nice have emerged as a possible option with Italian and Spanish clubs also expressing an interest in a player who cost Chelsea £71.6million back in 2018.
Nice finished fifth in Ligue 1 last season, qualifying for the Europa Conference League, and reached the final of the Coupe de France, where they lost 1-0 to Nantes.
The Cote d’Azur club have to replace Argentine keeper Walter Benitez, who has signed for PSV Eindhoven. They have already made permanent Marcin Bulka’s loan deal from Paris Saint-Germain.
Kepa was Chelsea’s first choice for two seasons after joining from Athletic Bilbao but a series of errors and struggles with form led to him being replaced by Mendy in the 2020-21 campaign.
He only made 14 appearances that season and 15 in the campaign just passed.
Despite being brought on for the penalty shoot-out in the Carabao Cup final with Liverpool, Kepa failed to save a single spot-kick then missed himself in an 11-10 defeat.
