Why Real Madrid’s would-be De Gea replacement would be a smart signing for Chelsea

In January, Kepa Arrizabalaga turned down Real Madrid. Now, in August, he is on the verge of joining Chelsea.

The Premier League side, soon to lose Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid, are about to sign the former Real Madrid target Kepa. Athletic Club have confirmed that Kepa’s release clause has been paid, and despite not disclosing by whom, a trip to Stamford Bridge is the expected result.

On the face of it, this is absurd. £71m would be a world record fee for a goalkeeper, breaking the record set by Liverpool when they signed Alisson just a month ago. Both men only have two seasons of top-level European football under their belts, but Alisson has played at the top of Serie A, into the latter stages of the Champions League and regularly for Brazil. Kepa, meanwhile, has only played in La Liga and the Copa del Rey, and his only Spain cap arrived in the warm-ups to this summer’s World Cup.

With that in mind, it would be easy to say that Kepa would be a ludicrous signing for Chelsea, a massive bit of financial expenditure that presents a huge risk. And in many ways that would be a correct assessment; but it’s also a risk worth taking as it would set the Blues up with a top-class goalkeeper for the next decade.

Kepa’s style

Kepa is a typical Spanish goalkeeper, in that he is brilliant.

He is very much in the Casillas and De Gea mould; a brilliant shot-stopper with almost absurd reflexes who lives for saving close-range efforts when opponents have beaten the defence in front of him. It was likely this skill that attracted him to Real Madrid in the first place, where covering for an at-times volatile defence is required.

Zinedine Zidane placed his faith in Keylor Navas, and Kepa placed his in Athletic, so the move never materialised. Kepa would have been great for Madrid, and could thus be great for Chelsea.

His kicking ability should be incredibly useful when it comes to launching quick attacks and counters, and he is confident and capable when it comes to collecting and clearing crosses; something that any Premier League goalkeeper must excel at.

Sarrismo

Obviously, Sarrismo, the style of play that all of Maurizio Sarri’s sides adhere too, requires a very specific style of goalkeeper.

One could argue that, as good as Thibaut Courtois is, he doesn’t really fit what Sarri would ideally need from a goalkeeper. The same could be said of Jan Oblak too. As supreme as Oblak is, he isn’t geared up to play for a possession-heavy side that will want him to get involved in the build-up.

Kepa, meanwhile, will be a great fit with Sarrismo. He completed 368 long passes in La Liga last season; the most in the division by a double-figure advantage. So instantly you can see him as a trigger man to launch quick Chelsea counter-attacks.

But obviously Maurizio Sarri is all about possession and building from the back; which isn’t Kepa’s speciality like long balls, but he did complete 221 out of 223 short passes last season, indicating a proficiency with the ball at his feet that could scale upwards with the increased demands of Sarrismo (last season Pepe Reina attempted 589 passes for Napoli, so Kepa would have to double his output).

Moreover, Kepa’s sensational shot-stopping ability would allow him to be tremendously effective as an “orthodox” goalkeeper whilst he (and Chelsea’s defence) adapts to the demands of Sarrismo. Mistakes will be made, and Kepa has the skills to cover for them.

All in all, bringing Kepa to Stamford Bridge would involve a huge financial outlay, but he has the youth and the skill to justify such an outlay.

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