Kepa Arrizabalaga at risk of missing out on Arsenal’s Premier League winners’ medal
Arsenal have already clinched the Premier League title, yet amid the jubilation, Kepa Arrizabalaga faces a genuinely uncertain outcome regarding one of football’s most coveted individual honours. The Premier League awards winners’ medals automatically to any player who has made five or more appearances in the competition during the title-winning campaign, and Kepa has not featured once in the league since arriving from Chelsea last summer.
His 11 appearances across all competitions have been confined exclusively to cup matches, leaving him without a single minute of top-flight football for the club. With only one fixture remaining in the season, reaching the five-game threshold is simply impossible, so the 30-year-old goalkeeper sits in an uncomfortable position as Arsenal’s title celebrations draw near.
Where does Kepa Arrizabalaga stand in Arsenal’s squad?
Arsenal currently have 24 players who meet the automatic qualification criteria, among them young midfielder Ethan Nwaneri. The one other senior figure at the club who falls short of the five-appearance mark is third-choice goalkeeper Tommy Setford, whose sole outing this season came in the FA Cup victory over Wigan Athletic. Both men are waiting on the same outcome, albeit for rather different reasons, given their respective profiles and roles within the squad.
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Can Kepa Arrizabalaga still receive a medal this weekend?
The regulations do permit clubs to distribute up to 16 additional medals beyond the automatic allocation, which gives Arsenal full discretion to honour players like Kepa and Setford regardless of their appearance tally. Given that the club hold that flexibility, there is a reasonable prospect that both goalkeepers receive one apiece this weekend when Arsenal officially lift the trophy.
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The final decision rests with the club, and there is little reason to expect Arsenal would leave any of their own behind on such an occasion. Nevertheless, until confirmation arrives, Kepa finds himself in a frustrating wait that his campaign, largely spent on the fringes, has unfortunately made inevitable.