Chelsea transfer news: Blues ready to trigger Kepa release clause to replace Real Madrid-bound Thibaut Courtois

The Spaniard would become the world's most expensive goalkeeper ever

Chelsea are ready to sign Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga as Thibaut Courtois' replacement, and have offered the 23-year-old shotstopper a life-changing package to make a world-record £71m move to London.

The Blues are now prepared for Thibaut Courtois to leave the club after the Belgian international failed to report to training for the second consecutive day. Courtois has his heart set, as he has for some time, on a move back to Spain with Real Madrid to be closer to his daughters, who live in the Spanish capital.

Madrid are understood to be offering in the region of £35m for the 6ft 6in Belgian and he is seen as a perfect element in the core of a new, younger-looking team under Julen Lopetegui.

Courtois will leave Chelsea for Real Madrid this week (AFP/Getty Images)

In a bid to smooth negotiations with Chelsea, the European champions are also understood to have brought up the possibility of Mateo Kovacic entering into a deal in the form of a loan move. Kovacic, a Croatian international, joined Madrid in 2015 for around £26m but has struggled to cement a first-team berth and earlier this summer gave a newspaper interview in which he made public his desire to leave the club.

Maurizio Sarri already has a lot of central midfielders at his disposal, including Tiemoue Bakayoko, N'Golo Kante, Danny Drinkwater, Cesc Fabregas, Ross Barkley, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and new signing Jorginho, who cost £52m from Napoli, but Sarri was reported to have also requested that the club sign Inter midfielder Matias Vecino. Kovacic would provide a short-term alternative and Madrid are willing to let him go out on loan if it helps secure a big signing at a position that has long been one of the president's priorities.

Even the arrival of a midfielder wouldn't make up for Courtois' loss though, and while Chelsea have made contact with Jack Butland's entourage and that of Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico, on Tuesday they accelerated a deal for Athletic Club's Kepa to the point that it is only waiting for the player to say yes.

Kepa was on the cusp of signing for Real Madrid in a £17m January deal until Zinedine Zidane pulled the plug on the move, backing incumbent Keylor Navas in spite of club president Florentino Perez's interminable efforts to replace Navas with someone more marketable, dating back to the saga surrounding David De Gea.

Mateo Kovacic of Real Madrid is looking to move on (Getty Images,)

The 23-year-old Kepa then signed a huge contract extension with the Bilbao club that tied him down until 2025 and elevating his release clause to €80m (£71m) and with Athletic refusing to negotiate at a lower mark, Chelsea will need to deposit the amount in full at the LFP headquarters in Madrid in order to seal the deal.

It would be a world-record fee for a goalkeeper, eclipsing the £66.8m that Liverpool paid Roma for Alisson earlier this summer - the player Chelsea had originally earmarked as their Courtois replacement. The Blues are waiting to confirm that Kepa wants to join the club and that all the paperwork is in order before triggering the player's clause.