Kepa Arrizabalaga is preparing to fill in Edouard Mendy shoes at Chelsea when he later leaves for AFCON. The competition will take place in January 2022 with players missing on their respective club matches for almost a month.
Chelsea will have two players heading out for the AFCON, Mendy and Hakim Ziyech. The players will be representing their respective countries, Senegal and Morocco, in the tournament. Players from other Premier League clubs like Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez and many more…, will also be absent for their clubs during the same period.
Kepa will be ready to replace Mendy during his absence for the Blues. The Spaniard has made cameos for Chelsea in all competitions this season.
Kepa could find his lost form at Chelsea in the absence of Mendy
The Spaniard made his move to the Blues from La Liga side, Athletic Bilbao in 2018. The £71 million fee, remains the highest that has ever been paid for a goalkeeper to this day. The transfer fee was a sign of Kepa’s talent and potential.
The 27-oyrs-old was Chelsea’s no.1 GK before the signing of Mendy from Rennes in 2020. However, during his time at the club, Kepa faced a lot of criticism regarding his goal keeping as a result of his dipping form.
His clash with manager Maurizio Sarri in the Carabao Cup Final against Manchester City in 2019 was just the icing on the cake. His refusal to come off the pitch was a display of his poor attitude towards his boss and a lack of discipline.
Meanwhile, the Senegalese has made quite a name for himself while playing for the London Giants under Thomas Tuchel. In this season, the 29-yrs-old GK has 7 clean sheets in 12 appearances across all competitions. With almost 3.6 saves per game, he rocks a massive save percentage of 96% in the Premier League.
Even though Thomas Tuchel has done a great job of rehabbing Kepa, he would still have concerns about an extended period with him in goal. He always seems one mistake away from shattered confidence
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