CHELSEA have joined Liverpool in the transfer battle to sign Turkish goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir, according to reports.
The Blues are making plans to replace Kepa Arrizabalaga after the Spanish stopper has struggled to improve this season.
And according to Fotospor, £26million-rated Trabzonspor stopper Cakir is high on their wanted list.
The report adds that Eddie Newton has regularly handed the Blues information about the 23-year-old.
Newton came through the youth ranks at Chelsea and made 214 appearances for the first team but is now the assistant manager at the Turkish Super Lig team.
However, the Blues face plenty of competition for Cakir’s signature this summer after his impressive season.
Trabzonspor, who released Daniel Sturridge this week, are challenging for a seventh league title in their history – and first since 1984.
That has piqued the interest of runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Alisson is the clear No1 at Anfield but Cakir would be a better understudy to the Brazilian than Adrian, Andy Lonergan, Caoimhhin Kelleher and Loris Karius – who is on loan at Besiktas.
Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal, Everton and Newcastle are all also thought to be keen on the Turkish international, while Sheffield United reportedly had a bid turned down for him earlier this year.
And Trabzonspor president Ahmet Agaoglu knows his side face a battle to keep hold of their man.
He said: “In my opinion, Ugurcan Cakir is one of the three best goalkeepers in Europe and a huge prospect for Turkish football.
“We want £17-21m, it could be as high as £26m for him but of course we also hope he stays.”
Kepa, 25, moved to Stamford Bridge in 2018 for a world-record fee of £71.6m and was largely impressive in his first season.
However, a number of key errors during the current campaign, such as his failure to stop a late Isaac Hayden header at Newcastle, resulted in Frank Lampard dropping him.
The Spaniard missed six matches as Willy Cabellero came in, but failed to keep a single clean sheet.
Arrizabalaga came back for the 2-0 win over Liverpool – and shone with a triple save in the FA Cup win.
More performances like that could help convince Lampard to stick with his current No1 – and secure his spot in the Spain squad for Euro 2020.
Chelsea have also been linked with Nick Pope from Burnley, Ajax stopper Andre Onana and Fiorentina’s Bartlomiej Dragowski.
