Lampard and Kepa clash over Chelsea future
Chelsea boss Frank Lampard might clash with out-of-favour goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga over his future after insisting that the player would stay at the club against his wish.
Kepa Arrizabalaga joined the West London outfit as a world-record signing as a goalkeeper in a £71million deal from Athletic Bilbao in 2018 but has not been at his best to convince manager Frank Lampard. He has gone down the pecking order and cannot be trusted due to the high-profile mistakes he made earlier on.
The Blues boss had to bring in Edouard Mendy from French Ligue 1 outfit Rennes in September for a £20 million fee, and he has since nailed his place as the number 1 choice, keeping nine clean sheets with the West London club already.
The last time Kepa Arrizabalaga started a game for Chelsea was in the 3-3 draw against Southampton on October 17 and he has only made one match-day squad since then.
Knowing that he has already lost his place in the team, the Spanish shot-stopper wants to leave Stamford Bridge, and he is willing to take a pay-cut to sanction a loan move in order to play regularly to get his career back on track in the January window. With the summer’s European Championship approaching, there is a need to play regularly to secure national team calls.
It is expected that Kepa Arrizabalaga’s stay at Chelsea is over but Frank Lampard is confident he can still get the nod with the Blues legend stating that there is no pressure to sell the out-of-favour goalkeeper. He added that the club has never made any move to sell the Spanish goalkeeper.
Frank Lampard expressed satisfaction with the attitude of the goalkeeper, noting that he has been patient and training hard.
His words are as follows; “I have to do the right thing game by game of course. And Mendy has made himself a permanent fixture at this point. “Because the pressure to win games means I pick people in form, goalkeeper, striker, winger, whoever.
But at the same time with the game tomorrow it’s obviously an opportunity to give Edou a rest and Kepa a game; he’s been training well, and he deserves it.
“And obviously with Edou’s form, he’s been a very regular pick for me. But of course, for this game it’s a game for Kepa, who’s training brilliantly well, acting brilliantly well. “These periods will happen in players’ careers, and sometimes they will make you stronger and better at the other end. So I’ve got no qualms about putting him back in.”