Former Chelsea goalkeeper Rob Green believes Chelsea should keep Kepa Arrizabalaga despite his inconsistencies this season because he isn’t the finished product yet.“We’re saying Dean Henderson is one for the future, he’s 23, Kepa is 25, it’s not like he’s a million miles away,” Green told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“But because of that price tag, you’re expecting that bit more. That’s the immediate assumption, he’s not the finished article, that was never the case with Kepa.
“It was going to happen at some point. You walk off the plane on a Friday afternoon from Belarus or somewhere and you’ve got to play again on the Sunday lunchtime. It’s so draining, it’s so hard and it’s the first time he’s done that.
“This year, it’s the Champions League and the pressure is even greater. Maybe the more open style they’re playing is dragging into that and they haven’t been at tight as last season.
“It’s funny at Chelsea. It’s not the most transparent in terms of the signings it’s making. The manager doesn’t always make the decisions. I don’t think Maurizio Sarri knew who I was when I signed, let alone approve the signature. You look at that but who is making the decisions? Maybe with Petr Cech, the communications might be better.
“You talk about timing, those couple of games he had coming back, he got man of the match against Manchester United in the FA Cup. If he hadn’t have come back with those games, I think this might have been something where you say ‘yeah this is a real possibility’.
“Who Frank is speaking to is another big thing and what their opinion is. They are going to stick with Frank and there is a lot of players with long-term contracts who say ‘I’m going to outlast the manager’ – I don’t think any of the players will be thinking that about Frank.”