Roman Burki watches on during a game (Getty Images)
According to a report from The Sun, Chelsea are lining up a £15m bid for Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki as a potential replacement for Kepa Arrizabalaga in the summer transfer window.
The 29-year-old Burki came through the youth ranks at Swiss club FC Munsingen, before joining BSC Young Boys in 2007. He made just six first-team appearances for the club though, having spent majority of his time out on loan at FC Thun (Jul-Dec 09), Schauffhausen (Feb-Jun 2010) and Grasshoppers (Jan 2011-Jun 2013). Burki then joined Grasshoppers on a permanent deal in 2013.
After making 122 appearances for the club (including loan spell), Burki left the club in 2014 to sign for German club SC Freiburg. He featured 36 times for the club before Borussia Dortmund signed him in 2015. Since joining BVB, the 29-year-old has made 202 appearances so far, keeping 73 clean sheets.
Chelsea have two goalkeepers in the first-team currently – Kepa Arrizabalaga and Willy Caballero. The former arrived in the summer of 2018 in a world-record £71.6m deal for a keeper but hasn’t really made the desired impact since his arrival.
In fact, a series of errors in the ongoing campaign saw manager Frank Lampard axe him from the starting XI, replacing him with Caballero, who is 38 years old and in the final month of his contract with the Blues.
Ever since Kepa was dropped, his future has been a subject of intense speculation, with Lampard open to offloading him. And with Caballero past his prime, it makes sense for Chelsea to sign a new goalkeeper in the summer.
However, Burki is hardly the solution that Chelsea need at the time. The 29-year-old has endured a sloppy campaign at Borussia Dortmund during the 2019/20 campaign.
In 25 league matches this season, he has conceded as many as 33 goals – one more than what Kepa has let in, in the same number of games in the Premier League for Chelsea. In addition, the Borussia Dortmund man has a save percentage of 56 in the Bundesliga this season, which is less than Kepa’s 57.7.
Burki is an experienced campaigner, no doubt. But as per the numbers, he hasn’t fared any better than Chelsea’s Kepa in the ongoing season. Hence, bringing in him to replace the Spaniard would prove to be a futile attempt by the Blues.
Chelsea need a new goalkeeper given the uncertainty surrounding Kepa’s future and Caballero’s age. However, Burki does not offer them the best solution. The 29-year-old has been average in the 2019/20 campaign and would hardly represent a major improvement on Kepa at Chelsea. Hence, the Blues would be better off looking elsewhere.
