Last week, reports in England claimed that former Manchester City backup goalkeeper Willy Caballero — Willy apparently stands for Wilfredo, which was a surprise to me — had a couple of options to choose from as far next destination was concerned, and that from those options he preferred Chelsea over Newcastle United even if though he would get paid more and possibly play more up north.
Now we have a report from TyC Sports’ Cesar Luis Merlo, which claims that Caballero is “close to signing with Chelsea” after dismissing interest from back home at Boca Juniors. Caballeo was born in a small town north of Buenos Aires and came up with Boca in the ealy 2000s before moving to Spain and then to Manchester City.
Wilfredo Caballero, que fue sondeado por #Boca, está muy cerca de firmar con el Chelsea. Vía @NoTodoPasaTyC pic.twitter.com/mbAtEdbJ35
— César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) June 13, 2017
Caballero, while not homegrown, would make plenty of sense as the replacement for fellow veteran Asmir Begovic, who signed for AFC Bournemouth earlier this summer. At 35, going on 36, Wilfredo, who played more games last season than in any of his two previous seasons at City, could provide a solid year or two of backup services.