Chelsea ‘eyeing’ Las Palmas Goalkeeper Alvaro Valles

Highlights

Chelsea are set to unveil Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca as their new manager
The Italian manager reportedly already has a desire to sign Las Palmas star Alvaro Valles
La Liga’s breakout goalkeeper is also wanted by Premier League rivals Arsenal and Aston Villa

Chelsea have joined the race for La Liga’s breakout goalkeeper Alvaro Valles, according to recent reports.

The London club are set to unveil Leicester City’s Enzo Maresca as their new manager, as the Italian coach will succeed the outgoing Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge. The Argentine was only appointed 12 months ago, but a turbulent campaign resulted in the two parting ways by mutual consent.

Maresca is now set to take charge after guiding the Foxes to a Championship title and promotion back into the Premier League following their relegation at the end of the 2022/23 season. Leicester City finished just one point clear of Ipswich Town with 31 wins from their 46 league matches.

Chelsea eye La Liga star

He could follow Maresca through the door

Chelsea are yet to confirm the arrival of Maresca, but transfer rumours are already starting to emerge with Las Palmas goalkeeper Valles, who would ‘suit Maresca’s style’ according to scout Petar Petrov, said to be on the list of targets this summer. According to The Mirror, Maresca’s style of play demands a very specific type of goalkeeper as Danish shot-stopper Mads Hermansen played a pivotal role under the coach at Leicester City.

The report states that statistics point to Valles being among the best sweeper keepers in Europe’s top five leagues and Chelsea are eyeing a possible move ahead of the upcoming transfer window. The Blues will face stern competition, however, with Nottingham Forest, who saw a £17m bid rejected in January, Arsenal and Aston Villa also among the clubs rumoured to be monitoring the player’s progress in Spain.

Valles progressed to the first team at Las Palmas in 2019 and only signed a year’s contract extension earlier this year. His current deal is set to expire in the summer of 2025, but the report claims club president Miguel Angel Ramirez is ready to sell the player in the coming months.

Chelsea set for goalkeeper shake-up

Sanchez and Petrovic are their current options

The Blues’ goalkeeping department is seemingly well stocked with Robert Sanchez and Dorde Petrovic only signed last summer and Kepa Arrizabalaga set to return from a loan spell with Real Madrid.

However, the report from The Mirror suggests Kepa is likely to be sold this summer and Sanchez is also expected to be offloaded by the club. Petrovic is currently under contract until 2030, with the option to extend by a further year.

The Serbian shot-stopper played 23 of Chelsea’s 38 Premier League games last season and kept five clean sheets in that time. After spending the first half of the season as second choice behind Sanchez, Petrovic secured the number one spot in December last year and had an impressive second half of the campaign.