Chelsea’s new goal Kepa Arrizabalaga: Who the hell are you Vol. 10

Chelsea has signed Kepa Arrizabalaga for a record fee (both for club and worldwide for keepers). But who is he and why is he so expensive?

The Blues were blindsided by Thibaut Courtois not showing up despite it being obvious in hindsight. After the Alisson move failed, Chelsea showed no inclination towards anyone else. But Courtois’ actions forced Chelsea’s hand and they turned towards Kepa Arrizabalaga to fill the gap. He becomes the Blues most expensive signing and surpasses Alisson as the world’s most expensive goalkeeper. But who is he and why was Chelsea so willing to splash the cash for him?

History

Kepa is from Athletic Bilbao’s academy system. Spain’s pyramid is complicated and highly interconnected. So while he has always been under Bilbao’s umbrella, he has technically spent time at one other club: CD Basconia.

It was there that he made his debut before returning to Bilbao, this time placed into their B team (which is technically its own club as well). He continued his ascent there while also making it into Spanish youth teams on the side. In 2015, he began a series of two loans before returning and becoming the starter at Bilbao’s main club.

Along the way, he has faced several longer term injuries that he has bounced back from each time. He was called up to the Spanish national team for the World Cup where he failed to make an appearance over David De Gea.

In total, he has played 164 matches professionally. That equates to 14,674 minutes of playing time. At only 23, he has 53 clean sheets to his name.

But is he any good?

Yes. Mind, he is not as good as Courtois is yet. But he is still young (in keeper years) and has shown a ton of promise. With Chelsea’s world class keeper coaches, he could rapidly improve over the next few years.

Furthermore, he is much more suited to Maurizio Sarri’s style of play than Courtois (or even Alisson for that matter). He is comfortable playing out from the back and he is not afraid to run out and claim the ball if it is possible. Given Chelsea has had a keeper who stays near the goal for the better part of the last 15 years, this will be a massive change in style.

In fact, he has more minutes professionally than Alisson does. Though the level is different, to say Chelsea is paying more for a less experienced keeper is only half accurate. Kepa is lacking in European experience, but with Chelsea in the Europa League, that is unlikely to matter a great deal.

If he had to be ranked against other Premier League keepers, he is probably somewhere around the sixth or seventh best keeper in the league on day one. That should not alarm Chelsea fans, however, as he has a ton of potential to grow and Ederson was in a similar spot last year when he joined. Playing in the right system in the right time with the right coaches can see a player quickly go from seventh best to third, second, or even very best incredibly quickly.

If he is not the best keeper in the league why is he the most expensive?

Three reasons: Chelsea is desperate, release clauses are often hyper inflated, and Bilbao’s Basque policy.

Chelsea knew Courtois wanted to leave. They probably did not expect him to force the issue however. So as they waited to see if Courtois would sign a contract or not, the Belgian made his move. Chelsea, at that point with less than four days to find a new keeper, had to act quickly. Given how terrible Chelsea has been at negotiation in recent seasons, it made sense to take negotiation out of the equation and find someone with a reasonable release clause.

But release clauses are often hyper inflated. Obviously Kepa is young and has a ton of potential, which is part of why the release clause is so large. The other part is the clause needs to be high enough that it is an offer the club simply cannot say no to. The original intent of the clause was to ward off Real Madrid (they had wanted him before he signed the new contract with the clause in January). But the high number was there simply because it was too high to turn down if someone bid it. In the end, Chelsea became the club willing.

But for Bilbao specifically, their Basque policy comes into play. To put it simply, Bilbao will only buy or use players who have Basque origins or who trained with Basque clubs in their youth. That policy is obviously very constricting on their squad building. So when a player leaves, it is very hard for them to find a replacement easily. Thus, the fee to sell a player must be massive so it can be reinvested in the academy or in a very specific type of player.

Chelsea’s desperation is why the clause was triggered. The price itself came in part because of the Basque policy and in part because it had to be too big to say no to. Add in that Kepa is a very good keeper and will only get better and the big price tag makes sense.

Last question: how do you pronounce his name?

Short answer: very carefully.

Long answer: Arr-e-tha-ba-la-ga. Most commentators will shove that together and say it as quickly as possible to avoid embarrassment.

Better answer: Just call him Kepa. Or the goalKepa (make it a thing).

What do you think about Chelsea’s latest man between the sticks? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!