Maurizio Sarri is reportedly keen on reuniting with one of his former players. Kepa Arrizablaga, the goalkeeper who once defied Sarri’s instructions at Chelsea, could be offered a way out of Stamford Bridge by the Biancocelesti.
Kepa has sparsely appeared for Chelsea this season, appearing just eight times across all competitions this season – with just 631 minutes of game time. However, with Edouard Mendy away at the African Cup of Nations with Senegal, Kepa is back in the starting eleven, albeit for a brief period due to Mendy’s position as one of the world’s best shot-stoppers.
Sarri is eyeing a reunion with the 27-year-old, according to reports from Italian outlet Il Messaggero (via DailyMail). He was signed by Sarri during the tactician’s Blues days for a whopping transfer fee of €80m from Athletic Bilbao in 2018, and it seems like the ex-Napoli coach is still a fan of the goalkeeper, despite their history.
Kepa and Sarri have a controversial history of sorts that dates back to the 2019 Carabao Cup final at Wembley. As the final whistle after extra time was to be blown with the score level at 0-0, Sarri prepared to send in Willy Caballero for the impending penalty shoot-out. However, Kepa had other plans, as he refused to come off – gesturing frantically at the bench that he was not going be substituted.
He was Sarri’s number one during the Italian manager’s only season at Chelsea, making 54 uninterrupted appearances throughout 2018/19.
Kepa is contracted with Chelsea until June 2025. He possesses a transfermarkt value of €10m, one-eighth of the value that was paid to bring him to London.
Manager Thomas Tuchel recently commented (via MARCA) that the club still trusts the goalkeeper to carry out his duties, although it is Mendy who holds the mantle between the posts at Stamford Bridge.
He has so far carried out his duties for Chelsea – even as second fiddle – in impressive manner. The ex-Athletic goalkeeper has been the Blues’ best player in the EFL Cup, helping the team oust Aston Villa and Southampton earlier in the tournament with his penalty shoot-out heroics, before registering consecutive clean sheets against Tottenham over two legs.