are willing to let Kepa Arrizabalaga join this month after the German champions opened talks over a potential deal, according to reports.
The Bundesliga giants have been looking to sign a new number one all summer, with Yann Sommer having been offloaded to Inter and Manuel Neuer still not close to returning to action after breaking his leg in December.
Bayern had made a play for but baulked at Brentford’s asking price, with the Spaniard .
’s prolonged search for a new goalkeeper has now led him back to a familiar face, with in Bavaria.
Initial talks have already taken place between the clubs with Tuchel having personally recommended his former charge to Bayern’s recruitment team despite dropping the Spaniard in favour of Edouard Mendy during their time together at Stamford Bridge.
Although Kepa has featured prominently in pre-season and is well-liked by Mauricio Pochettino, claim he is willing to sanction a transfer.
Chelsea have already brought in Robert Sanchez in a £25m deal from Brighton and Pochettino is happy to go into the new campaign with the 25-year-old between the sticks.
Kepa only has two years left on his contract and Chelsea would be keen to receive a decent sum for a player that remains the most expensive goalkeeper in football history following his £71.6m move from Athletic Bilbao in 2018.
Chelsea would also be keen to offload his £190,000-a-week salary – particularly if Sanchez manages to dislodge him as number one – while the player himself is open to moving to Germany.
Should Kepa leave, the west London club would target a replacement goalkeeper to provide cover and competition for Sanchez and already have two targets in mind.
The first is Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili, who was previously looked at by Tottenham before they signed Guglielmo Vicario, while Borussia Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel is also on their shortlist.
Pochettino was asked about Kepa and his future at the club at the end of last month and replied: ‘We are so happy with him.
‘He is showing great commitment in adapting to new demands from Toni [Jimenez], from the coaching staff, and the goalkeeping coach, him and Hilario are working. We are so happy with him and he is a fantastic keeper.’
Kepa is not the only goalkeeper Bayern have enquired about, with the German champions also looking at Ajax’s Geronimo Rulli and Sevilla’s Bounou.
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