In Spain, he never ruffled any feathers
If Maurizio Sarri has taken to pacing around Chelsea’s training ground in the same ferocious manner as he demonstrated at Wembley, it may be handy for Kepa Arrizabalaga to call on a friend named ‘Rocky’.
Not that Kepa’s version of Rocky has much in common with Sylvester Stallone’s character. Indeed, ask those who grew up in the Basque Country for their abiding memory of Kepa and it is usually his curious habit of searching the countryside for goldfinches and training them up to sing in competitions.
for Kepa this was the ultimate father-son activity and the younger self of this Chelsea goalkeeper spent much of his childhood perfecting the tones of his three competing goldfinches — Rocky, Raikkonen and Oker. Kepa twice won regional prizes with the latter goldfinch.
Since arriving as the world’s most expensive goalkeeper in a £ 72m transfer from Athletic Bilbao last summer, Kepa has barely caused a moment’s trouble.
Only last week one senior Chelsea source was praising Kepa, describing his timid and straightforward character as a welcome change from the more fraught relationship that the club endured with Thibaut Courtois and the goalkeeper’s father.
Some at Chelsea have even questioned whether Kepa has the resilience to lead a side at the highest level. After Sunday, at least, we know he is not short of a stubborn streak.
During the extraordinary episode at Wembley on Sunday, Kepa’s reputation came crashing down.
To those who know him, it was a staggering development. The Carabao Cup final is one of the few big English fixtures that is not aired anywhere in Spain. When images circulated on Sunday evening the reaction was one of shock because the 24-yearold’s rise through the youth ranks at Athletic Bilbao and in Spain’s national team has been marked by exemplary behaviour.
Miguel Angel Espana is Spain’s Under 21 goalkeeping coach. He told
Sportsmail: ‘His behaviour has always been irreproachable. He has shown the maximum respect to the coaching staff at all times.
‘He debuted for the Under 21s when he was still 19. Before that he won the Under 19 Euro in 2015 and saved two penalties in the shootout of the semi-final.’ Those penalty stops from Samuel Umtiti and Geoffrey Kondogbia, against Paul Pogba’s france, perhaps go some way to explaining Kepa’s desire to stay on at Wembley and face Manchester City’s spot kicks.
Angel also speaks about Kepa’s huge self- confidence. ‘A goalkeeper often needs to have even more confidence than an outfield player. This could affect him a little bit but we have no doubts about him and about how he will come through it. He’s a humble guy who works very hard and he’s a very complete goalkeeper.’
In Bilbao, Kepa is not always spoken about with the same degree of fondness. He was first called up to train with the Athletic Bilbao squad by Marcelo Bielsa as a 17-year-old in 2012 and he eventually made the starting place his own.
Yet as his contract ran down in Bilbao, Kepa frustrated the club and supporters by seemingly angling for a transfer to Real Madrid.
He should have joined Real Madrid last January when President florentino Perez met his £ 17.8million buyout clause and he even passed a medical. Yet manager Zinedine Zidane was content with Keylor Navas, Kiko Casilla and his own son Luca as his goalkeeping options.
As such, Kepa signed a new longterm contract in Bilbao, professed his love for the club and then left for Chelsea six months later.
During the summer, Maurizio Sarri considered Jack Butland of Stoke before finally spending £72m on a player who had been available for almost £50m less 12 months earlier.
Kepa signed a seven-year deal and so, despite the reaction to events at Wembley, won’t be leaving soon.