Kepa Arrizabalaga has had his first big interview since leaving Chelsea, speaking to Cadena Copa about his his present and his future.
He is on Spain duty, but of course the questions all ended up being about club football. He was asked about his loan move to Real Madrid, how it came about, and how he felt about it.
What followed was a pretty desperate attempt to show how much he wanted to stay in Madrid, and how keen he was to get away from the nightmare (both personal and more widespread) at Stamford Bridge.
Kepa Arrizabalaga: "I felt it was time for a change of scenery. I wanted to stay, but I felt that the [#Chelsea] project was not the right one."
(@COPE)
— Chels HQ (@Chels_HQ) September 6, 2023
“I felt it was time for a change of scenery. I wanted to stay, but I felt that the Chelsea project was not the right one,” the Basque stopper said.
His problem is that Thibaut Courtois is going to be back in goal before the end of the season. So either he will have to return to the “project” at Chelsea he’s so desperate to avoid, or hope that Madrid buy him at the end of the year to sit on their bench.
We can’t blame him for wanting to get away from Chelsea, where he’s not exactly beloved.
Keppa has always been my man ever since Mendy woke him up. I never had any bit of faith in Sanchez, and I believe most of you can concur with me now, he’s just confused and doesn’t know where he is at(look at the swimming dive he made against Salah, thanks to VAR). I’ve been behind the three goal posts and out of experience, fans don’t appreciate keepers until they make clean sheets. Chelsea would have been worse without Keppa last season, he blessed us with marginal loses. 4:0 away at Old Trafford and he’s Chelsea’s MVP- incredible.
(1) I challenge you all, look at our 0:2 win at Villa Park last season, memorize Keppa’s role and without scratching your head, remind me the last time that you saw such a performance from our legendary goalkeepers.(2.)
Since 2003, which fulltime goalie could you count on as a penalty stopper apart from Keppa?