Kepa Arrizabalaga set to join Chelsea

Athletic Bilbao have confirmed that Kepa Arrizabalaga has paid his £71.6m release clause ahead of his proposed move to Chelsea this month.

The Blues made their approach for the Spanish goalkeeper on Tuesday and things have since moved quickly with the club allocating funds for Kepa to activate his escape clause, ESPN reports.

Kepa is presently in the English capital to complete the necessary formalities regarding the move and once this is completed, the Blues are expected to sanction the sale of Thibaut Courtois.

The Belgium international has been leaning towards joining Real Madrid since his return from the World Cup and it now appears certain that he will make the switch to the Bernabeu in the next few days.

Courtois presently has under 12 months left on his existing deal and the Blues are likely to accept a knockdown price of around £32m to sanction his sale to the European champions.