Kepa ‘big money’ comment highlights Chelsea transfer blunder

Robin Bairner

• 12 Apr 2023 23:04 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea suffered a 2-0 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, with former Blues midfielder Joe Cole picking out the goalkeeper as one position in which the Premier League side were lacking.

Cole went on to praise Blancos goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for his display, arguing that that “that’s what you pay the big money for”.

Only, Chelsea did pay big money for Kepa, who became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper in 2018 when he was signed for €80 million from Athletic Bilbao.

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Courtois, meanwhile, left Stamford Bridge to sign for Real Madrid for just €35m the same summer.

His point, nevertheless, remains a valid one, with Chelsea’s hierarchy of goalkeepers unclear once Edouard Mendy returns from injury.

For Cole, the weakness of goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga was an underlying reason for the 14-time European champions grabbing their vital second goal through Marco Asensio following a cleverly worked short corner.

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Kepa to blame for second goal?

According to the former England man, the Chelsea players were too busy protecting their goalkeeper to focus on what was going around them.

“Without being overly critical, because I don’t think he made too many mistakes, I think the Chelsea players want to protect Kepa,” he told BT Sport. “They want to get round him.

“Whereas a top goalie, like you see with Thibaut Courtois – that’s what you pay the big money for. He’s commanding, he’s a big presence and there’s a leader there.

“When you’re defending a set piece, especially when you’re down to 10 men, that’s when you need Kepa to say: ‘You go there, you go there and you go there.’ But there wasn’t any of that

“We are hyper critical but that’s what it’s like at this level, and that’s what win and losses games.”

Chelsea, who spent a world-record sum in the transfer market this season, also face criticism for their lack of potent strikers, having failed to score in four successive matches in all competitions for the first time since 1993.