Gregor Kobel is on Chelsea’s goalkeeper shortlist, but that depends on the future of Kepa Arrizabalaga after a fresh update emerged…
What’s the latest on Gregor Kobel to Chelsea?
According to the Evening Standard, Chelsea are interested in signing the Borussia Dortmund shot-stopper if the Spaniard chooses to depart.
The article states that Kepa is open to joining Bayern and the Blues are unlikely to stand in his way, with Thomas Tuchel driving the interest in his former player.
The Bavarian Giants are thought to be preparing a loan offer that would include an option to buy next summer.
However, Real Madrid are also said to be weighing up a similar proposal after confirmation of a long-term knee injury to Thibaut Courtois.
This would open the door for a new goalkeeper at Stamford Bridge and provide some competition to Robert Sanchez, who recently joined from Brighton for £25m.
Therefore, Kobel’s transfer to Chelsea is a serious possibility, with Mauricio Pochettino also targeting Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Would Gregor Kobel be a good signing for Chelsea?
The 25-year-old titan has been at Dortmund since 2021, firmly establishing as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper, appearing in 56 of the club’s last 68 Bundesliga games.
Last season, Kobel kept 11 clean sheets in 27 league appearances, resulting in a clean sheet percentage of 40.7%, which is the highest in the division of any goalkeeper with over 20 appearances.
Across the campaign, he made 61 saves from inside the box, prevented 2.88 goals, and averaged 3.3 saves per game, as per Sofascore.
Moreover, the former Stuttgart star also ranks impressively across the continent, sitting within the best 18% for touches per 90 and save percentage per 90, as well as the highest 10% for clean sheet percentage and percentage of penalty kicks that were saved.
Roman Weidenfeller, who spent 16 years as Dortmund’s goalkeeper, hailed Kobel’s maturity and potential, saying:
“At such a young age, he has already matured into a leader on the pitch. For me, he’s an outstanding goalkeeper who still has huge potential.
“Gregor is excellent on the line, very strong with his feet and confident with his control of the penalty area. He is a leader at BVB. On top of that, he’s a talented youngster.”
Kobel is a worthy replacement for Arrizabalaga, whose Chelsea career has been constantly scrutinised since his record-breaking £71.6m move in 2018.
His first two years in England were a disaster, and at the end of the 2019/20 season, he had the lowest save percentage in the league (53.47%) and conceded 12 goals more than the average keeper would be expected to.
Arrizabalaga’s lack of composure, quality, and presence meant he was replaced by Edouard Mendy in 2020, who conceded just 29 goals in 44 games in his debut season, whilst also equalling the record of keeping the most clean sheets in a Champions League campaign (nine), which the Blues eventually won.
However, Mendy’s sudden and unexpected drop-off, followed by a swift departure to Saudi Arabia means that Arrizabalaga has found himself back into the fold almost by chance.
Back in 2020, legendary striker Alan Shearer said that Chelsea won't achieve their ultimate ambition of winning a league with him between the sticks, whilst Ian Wright feels he simply “makes too many mistakes.”
The signing of the £34k-per-week titan would herald an exciting new era and would create some tasty competition with Sanchez.