The football community immediately had reasons to fill their eyes when Chelsea signed Kepa Arrizabalaga for €80 million (£71.6 million) in the year 2018. When Kepa signed the contract with the club, he was considered one of the most promising goalkeepers in Europe since the current Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri, was looking forward to replacing Thibaut Courtois with a fresh talent that could test his luck in the Premier League. However, this isn’t what happened next.
Robert Sanchez has 2 errors leading to goals and 2 penalties committed in just 10 games.
Kepa had 3 errors leading to goals throughout his entire Chelsea career in the Premier League. pic.twitter.com/tQ79JIQdxG
— CFCAnalytic (@CFCAnalytic) November 4, 2024
This was clearly a massive risk Marker took to sign Kepa from Athletic Bilbao, and as it’s become evident now, he never really provided decent returns for the Blues. But what went wrong? What will this do to Chelsea’s future? Okay, let’s dissect this transfer saga and why Kepa is on this list that might just be one of the most expensive mistakes in Chelsea history.
The Kepa Transfer: A Controversial Beginning
When Chelsea purchased Peter Cech for a then world record fee of 7m euros, expectations were skyrocketing high. Lemu gave Kepa, then 23, the sign to take charge. Chelsea approached him and offered a large contract because of his performances with Spanish clubs.
This caused a lot of enthusiasm from Chelsea’s board of directors. Marina Granovskaia, the club’s director, quickly praised Kepa, stating, “Fortunately, Kepa is a talent we have eyed for a while now, and we are thrilled he is joining us.”
It sounded good in theory. But the reality? Not so much.
Kepa’s Chelsea Career: Highs and Lows
Truly speaking, Kepa experienced tumultuous times at Chelsea. On the one hand, he has saved the day once or twice and has been a regular player in Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League ticket struggle. But he’s also been to blame for far too many mistakes allowing the opposition to score. Certainly, in the 2020-21 season, Kepa was at the top of the error-leading-to-the-goal table of the Premier League. Ouch.
During the 2019 Carabao Cup final, they substituted him during extra time. The image of a disobedient goalkeeper disobeying Sarri’s instructions has since become a symbol of a rallying point for memes. It was in that sense that Kepa’s time at Chelsea was perhaps always going to be dramatic from the start.
Is Kepa Worth the Money?
For the record, Kepa, at £71.6m, is currently the world’s most expensive shot-stopper, though Sanchez could soon oust him after Chelsea’s summer transfer. But is he really worth it? The answer to that, sadly, is negative.
Kepa, being an active part of Chelsea, has played 160 matches for the club, has secured 59 shutouts, and has let in 175 goals, but his performance has been patchy at times. Some fans, critics, and ex-footballer Ian Wright have criticized Kepa, saying he “costs goals.”
Comparing Kepa with Chelsea’s Current Goalkeepers
This season, Kepa is out on loan at Bournemouth, where the club pays £37.5k per week, paying half of his wages. On the other hand, Chelsea has signed the player Robert Sanchez from Brighton and Filip Jorgensen from Villarreal. Both have played better than Kepa and that too at lower wages than what this world-class goalkeeper commands. Sanchez, for instance, has played 36 matches, let in 48 goals, and bagged 8 shutouts, which are decent statistics given the caliber of teams in the Premier League.
Jorgensen, the younger of the two, has played only ten games but has let in nine goals and has preserved four shutouts. While giving a comparison between Sanchez and Jorgensen and Kepa, it’s very clear that the duo provides more value for the money than the latter. And the stats back that up.
Kepa has the worst save percentage among the three, but he has faced more shots in the process. He managed to complete the least number of passes per match and has also allowed the most goals per match. Now things are clear that Chelsea’s previous spending on a goalkeeper may not have been the best decision.
My opinion
I personally feel sorry for the fact that Kepa’s time with Chelsea didn’t go how they wanted at both ends. Many considered him one of Europe’s best young goalkeepers, and that assessment was reasonable. And while even the most promising talents sometimes struggle to adjust to the mayhem of the Premier League. Now, however, Chelsea’s decision to spend such an astronomical sum on him exemplifies a missed opportunity. A change of scenery might help Kepa regain his form, but I wonder if people will remember his Chelsea career more for controversy than consistency.
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