Arsenal player’s release clause has now expired

Kepa Arrizabalaga is no longer available for a set fee of £5m, with his release clause at Arsenal expiring, according to a report.

Following reports earlier in the summer that Kepa Arrizabalaga would be available for a set £5m release clause, James McNicholas now reports for The Athletic that this clause has expired.

As a result, any interested clubs would need to negotiate a fee with Arsenal, though it’s believed the Gunners wouldn’t stand in the goalkeeper’s way if they received an appropriate offer.

Arsenal signed Kepa from Chelsea for the same £5m clause, so it seems it’s something his camp are keen to include in his deals, allowing him an easy way out if required.

But the expiry of the clause early in the summer makes sense, allowing Arsenal plenty of time to find a replacement if a club swooped to activate it.

You don’t want to have your player’s release clause activated on deadline day, when there’s nothing you can do but let them go and promote players internally.

The addition of Illan Meslier will help with that sort of scenario as well, avoiding Arsenal having to rely on a teenager in goal.

Kepa has definitely had a season of highs and lows with Arsenal in 2025/26.

Starting with the highs, the goalkeeper got to walk out onto the Selhurst Park through a guard of honour, starting against Crystal Palace before lifting the Premier League trophy at the end of the match.

After seven years at Chelsea, Kepa earned his first Premier League winner’s medal with Arsenal, which will be a big positive for him.

The goalkeeper also allowed David Raya to get some rest in the early rounds of the cup competitions, and he kept a few clean sheets against Port Vale, Wigan, Brighton, and Chelsea.

But the major negatives were obviously how those runs ended, with Arsenal losing to Southampton in the FA Cup and Kepa spilling the ball in the League Cup final defeat to Manchester City.

It remains to be seen whether he’ll get a chance to redeem himself in north London in 2026/27.

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