Likely to be Chelsea’s first confirmed signing of the 2017 summer transfer window, Willy Caballero is set to be our new backup goalkeeper. The 35-year-old’s contract at Manchester City is expiring on June 30th and he’s expected to be announced by Chelsea the following day — the club have even teased this signing in media briefings, as underwhelming as it may be to announce a backup goalkeeper after letting the fanbase work themselves into a tizzy over a perceived lack of activity in the transfer market.
There may be no official confirmation of Caballero’s move, but multiple reports out of Argentina today claim that not only has he passed his Chelsea medical, he’s already signed his new contract.
Wilfredo Caballero (@willy_caballero) es refuerzo del #Chelsea. El arquero ya se hizo la revisión médica y firmó contrato. No irá a #Boca pic.twitter.com/7pgnsFU2IM
— César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) June 19, 2017
Cesar Luis Merlo has been tracking this story from the Boca Juniors angle, confirming once again that their former player isn’t coming back to Buenos Aires just yet, choosing London and Chelsea instead.
A few hours later, Fox Sports’ Christian Martin confirmed the move as well.
Bienvenido al Glorioso Chelsea/Welcome to Glorious Chelsea @willy_caballero pic.twitter.com/27NYJMO5jZ
— Christian Martin (@askomartin) June 19, 2017
So, next year’s goalkeeping trio looks set to be Thibaut Courtois (with his contract extension talks ready to resume in a couple weeks) and veterans Willy Caballero and Eduardo. Three non-homegrown goalkeepers isn’t exactly ideal, and it could would mean that Eduardo is left off the Champions League squad list, depending on how the rest of the squad shapes up, but it should not be a problem otherwise.
Caballero played about half of Manchester City’s games last year, so he should still be quite capable if and when Courtois needs a breather.
It’s happening!