Chelsea have received a serious boost of their pursuit of Gregor Kobel, with Borussia Dortmund planning for goalkeeper’s possible departure at the tip of the season.
Dortmund are languishing down in eleventh place within the Bundesliga table, having managed just two wins from their last eight top-flight matches.
With BVB now seven points adrift of the highest 4, Niko Kovac, who last month replaced Nuri Sahin as head coach, has an almighty battle on his hands in securing Champions League football.
In response to Bild, Dortmund could also be forced to dump a few of their key assets with a purpose to offset the financial losses that will be felt should they fail to qualify for Europe’s premier competition.
Kobel is called as one in every of the three players that Dortmund ‘have to think about’ selling in the summertime should they miss out – and a deal could possibly be possible for a fee within the region of €50m (£42m).
The 27-year-old ‘keeper is joined on that list by Jamie Gittens and Karim Adeyemi, who Dortmund value at around €80-100m (£67m-83.5m) and £50m (£42m) respectively.
Recent reports emanating out of Germany suggested Chelsea were eyeing a possible move for Kobel, with Robert Sanchez failing to impress between the sticks at Stamford Bridge this term.
It’s understood Kobel has grown increasingly frustrated with Dortmund’s lack of silverware and could possibly be open to the thought of swapping the Bundesliga for the Premier League.
The Switzerland international has made 145 appearances in all competitions since joining Dortmund from Stuttgart in 2021 and has twice been named within the Bundesliga Team of the Season.
His current contract on the Westfalenstadion runs through to the summer of 2028.
Chelsea’s current primary, Sanchez, has made a string of costly errors this season and was replaced in Enzo Maresca’s starting XI by Filip Jorgensen for the side’s recent win over West Ham.
Jamie Carragher has been an outspoken critic across the season of Sanchez and believes the Spaniard is ‘not at the extent’ required to assist win the club a serious trophy.
‘I’ve been really disenchanted with Chelsea,’ the ex-Liverpool and England defender said on the newest episode of It’s Called Soccer.
‘I never thought they might win the league at any stage due to goalkeeper and the centre-forward, they’re not at the extent. The centre-backs will not be at the extent either.
‘But this drop-off will likely be an actual worry for the people at the highest of the club.
‘In the event that they don’t get Champions League football next season, having been there for a few years and spent that amount of cash, that’s a disaster.’
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