Mysterious reason why Kepa didn’t make it at Chelsea. Should he leave?

The most expensive goalkeeper in the history of football. A former great Spanish talent who was supposed to take over the number one spot in the national team. Currently just a substitute at Chelsea, a status that has lasted since last season. That’s Kepa Arrizabalaga, whose transfer cannot be considered a success.

Kepa is a product of the Basque club Athletic Bilbao. In the adult category he went on loan first to Ponferradina, then to Real Valladolid. In the second Spanish league, he got stronger and earned a place in the Atleti squad.

At San Mamés, he became number one in the 2016/17 season and the Spanish media saw a great future in him. The great talent was set to become the future number one of the Spanish national team, all these speculations were confirmed by Chelsea, who did not hesitate to shell out a staggering 80 million euros for the promising goalkeeper in 2018.

That’s how much they believed in him. According to the Transfermarkt website, his value at the time was “only” 20 million euros. Kepa had a great first season at Chelsea. With the Blues, he reached the Europa League final, where he beat Arsenal, for whom Petr Čech was the goalkeeper, in the final.

But from the second season onwards, his performances began to decline slightly. Kepa drew all the world’s attention to himself during a scene with coach Maurizio Sarri when he refused to make a substitution, even though the Italian strategist insisted that Willy Caballero should come in ready to play.

Since then, Arrizabalaga has been unrecognizable. He began to pile up schoolboy errors, often his lapses costing Chelsea important points. Criticism began to mount. How is it possible that such a quality goalkeeper suddenly looks almost like an amateur? That his performance jumps from a hundred to zero?

A painful break-up

The Spanish media came up with a possible version. Kepa broke up with his long-time girlfriend Andrea Perez, with whom he was a couple for 7 years. According to those close to him, the break-up has affected him extremely, with some even talking about mild depression. Kepa is said to be a very sensitive person who suffered a lot and could not get over the breakup with his beloved girlfriend.

Logically, his performance dropped as he could not concentrate fully on football. However, Frank Lampard had no patience with the Spanish goalkeeper and benched him and asked the management for a new goalkeeper. He did indeed come, in the summer of 2020 Édouard Mendy arrived at Stamford Bridge and pushed Kepa out of goal.

Since then, Kepa has spent most of his time on the bench. He started seven games in the Premier League last season, and four so far this season. He catches at least in the English cups, and occasionally gets a chance in the European cups.

But that’s not enough for an $80 million goalkeeper. He is 27 years old, which is not quite old enough, but it is the ideal age for a goalkeeper and he has many years ahead of him in goal.

The future

He is under contract at Chelsea until 2025, his value has dropped to €10 million in the meantime. The management keeps him as a quality number two, Tuchel also uses him as a penalty specialist, although last time against Liverpool it didn’t work out at all.

But what now? A return to Athletic Bilbao is unrealistic, as they’ve brought up another great goalkeeper at San Mamés in the meantime, and Unai Simón is the number one for the Spanish national team. And it is not certain that Basque pride would allow Kepa to play for another club in Spain.

So the game is to settle for being a substitute at Chelsea, or to go to another team in England or another top league where he would start with a clean slate. After all, Kepa is still a very good goalkeeper, he hasn’t lost all his skills overnight.

But I need him to regain his confidence, which he will only gain with minutes and game practice. Not by sitting on the bench.

Source: AS Diario, Transfermarkt