Revealed: Chelsea hope to offload two transfer flops to Saudi Pro League

James Shearman

• Updated: 14 Mar 2024 22:00 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea are reportedly hoping to offload Romelu Lukaku and Kepa Arrizabalaga to the Saudi Pro League this summer.

According to talkSPORT, Blues owner Todd Boehly has held secret talks with Saudi Pro League director of football Michael Emenalo.

The pair are said to have discussed moves for Lukaku and Arrizabalaga, as well as other players that Chelsea deem to be surplus to requirements.

They would join Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy in Saudi Arabia, both of whom left the west London club last summer.

READ MORE: Latest Chelsea transfer rumours

Lukaku and Arrizabalaga to leave

Chelsea will need to sell a number of players if they are to continue their spending spree.

Indeed, they have spent more on transfers than any other club since Boehly's takeover two years ago.

READ MORE: Chelsea’s 10 most expensive transfers of all time

One of the new board's marquee signings was that of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan.

The Belgian was brought in for a then-club record fee of £97.5 million, which turned out to be an absolute disaster.

In a controversial interview with Italian media, he expressed his love for Inter and sounded like he did not want to be at Chelsea.

He was dropped for the Blues' next few fixtures and never returned to being a key player at Stamford Bridge.

Lukaku would be a star player in Saudi Arabia, however, which could entice Emenalo into securing a deal.

Arrizabalaga, on the other hand, spent much longer at Chelsea, before being sent on loan to Real Madrid last summer.

The Spaniard had both spells of form where he looked a decent goalkeeper and a useless goalkeeper in west London and it was clear that an upgrade was needed.

Djordje Petrovic appears to be just that, so there is no need for the club to keep hold of Arrizabalaga going forward.

While another loan to a European team seems likely, a Saudi Pro League club may be his only option should he want to remain on wages north of £100,000 per week.