Chelsea board and Frank Lampard are in an 'arm-wrestle' over the exit of Kepa Arrizabalaga this summer. That is the verdict from former Blues star Craig Burley. He believes Lampard is desperate to bring in a replacement. Kepa has had a tricky second season in the Premier League last year and has been ranked as statistically one of the worse goalkeepers in Europe's top five leagues. It comes after several errors as Chelsea conceded 54 times in the Premier League, the most in the top ten. “It’s going to come down to money,” Burley explained. “The Chelsea board, I believe, were in a bit of an arm-wrestle with Lampard a few months ago... Lampard was adamant that he needed [Kepa] out. “The arm-wrestle was because of the wages and the transfer fee. They know and they knew at the time they’re never going to recover that. “I think there was a big fight to try and get Lampard to change his mind. In some sense he buckled a little bit and he played him, but he played badly. “So, I think Lampard has made up his mind and said he needs to absolutely convince the board that they can’t get to where they want to go with this guy as a number one. “The problem is, someone has to pay the big bucks for him. So there’s a real game of cat and mouse between not only Lampard and his owners, but his owners and other clubs.”
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