Chelsea are having a tough time under Maurizio Sarri after they started brilliantly as once it seemed like the Blues can emerge as one of the title challengers. However, those talks have taken a backseat as the Pensioners are now struggling to make it to the top four.
The month of February was a tough one for the Italian manager as Chelsea lost 6-0 to Manchester City and later went on to lose against them in the Carabao Cup final on penalties. Now the Blues pulled themselves up after the drubbing they received at Etihad and ran Manchester City close in the finals. However, the sheen of that performance was taken off by a selfish decision from Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
The Spaniard completely disregarded his manager’s orders and stayed on the pitch when his number went up as Sarri tried to bring on Willy Caballero who is known for his penalty stopping exploits. Moreover, he was a part of the Manchester City team not too long ago and would have been more aware of their preferred shooting side.
After Kepa defied the manager’s orders, he made it tough for himself as only a win in penalties could have saved his skin. He made one smart stop of Leroy Sane but it wasn’t good enough in the end as David Luiz and Jorginho missed their spot kicks.
Sarri was quick to call out that it was a misunderstanding and maybe he was trying to save his own skin and showcase that he made a mistake by getting Kepa’s name up. However, what the world’s costliest goalkeeper did was unpardonable and something like this doesn’t show the club in the right light to the world.
Now there have been calls to sell the custodian in the summer. However, there is no way that something like that is going to pan out even though Sarri decided to drop Kepa in the game against Spurs. Chelsea have been handed a transfer ban for the next two windows after breaching rules relating to the acquisition of youth players. The Blues have gone to the Court of Arbitration For Sports to appeal the decision, but as things stand, they won’t be allowed to make any signings in the next two transfer windows.
Therefore we don’t expect Kepa to be sold in the summer as the Blues wouldn’t be able to get a replacement. Kepa might not have played in the win against Spurs, but he was in matchday day squad which suggests that Sarri is willing to give him another chance. Hopefully, the young goalkeeper will learn from his mistakes and prove his doubters wrong after falling on the wrong side of the Chelsea fans after the latest fiasco.
