Arsenal and Aston Villa both wanted to sign Marcus Bettinelli – but they seemingly didn’t have a chance as he set his sights on a ‘dream’ move to Chelsea.
Bettinelli spent last season on loan at Neil Warnock’s Middlesbrough, playing 27 Championship games for Boro.
His Fulham contract came to an end last month, and Bettinelli has now been playing the free agent market.
The 29-year-old was called up by England in 2018 and is well-regarded by Gareth Southgate, so it wasn’t a huge surprise to see Premier League clubs target him.
The Daily Mail noted last week that both Arsenal and Aston Villa wanted to sign Bettinelli on a free transfer, seeing him as cheap, homegrown cover.
Bettinelli hasn’t joined either of them though, and actually completed a move to Fulham’s West London rivals Chelsea on Wednesday.
He will now join Willy Caballero, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Edouard Mendy in Chelsea’s goalkeeping ranks, with his chances of playing time seeming slimmer at Chelsea than Arsenal or Villa.
Now, Bettinelli has told Chelsea’s official site that his move to the Blues is a ‘dream’ as he has always wanted to sign for the club and is finally glad it happened having missed in the past, suggesting Arsenal and Villa barely stood a chance.
“It’s always been a special club,” said Bettinelli. “I know the area very well so it’s been a dream of mine to come over to this side and it’s finally happened. There were some talks a few years ago when I was a bit younger and for whatever reason that didn’t come about but I’m here now,” he added.
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