World's most expensive goalkeeper leaves Chelsea

The Athletic reported that Arsenal reached an agreement to sign Kepa Arrizabalaga for a fee of only about £5 million from Chelsea on the evening of May 26.

However, this deal has met with much skepticism, especially from former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster, who publicly questioned Kepa's real motives for agreeing to be a "supporting actor" at Emirates.

After an impressive loan spell at Bournemouth, where he kept eight clean sheets in 31 appearances, Kepa was said to have regained some of the trust of the pundits. However, at Chelsea, he is no longer part of the long-term plans, especially as the club look to bring in a younger, more stable squad.

Kepa left Chelsea to move to Arsenal.

In that context, Arsenal, a team that has long admired Kepa's talent, approached him as a quality backup option for current number one goalkeeper David Raya. However, Ben Foster does not think this is a reasonable step for Kepa.

“At 30, it's crazy to happily accept the role of number two. It's almost an acceptance that the prime of life is over,” Foster commented on the Fozcast podcast.

The former goalkeeper believes that if Kepa really wants to compete, he should choose a mid-table Premier League team where he can play regularly instead of being a reserve option at a big club. “He’s not good enough to compete with Raya, and I think Arsenal know that,” Foster stressed.

However, the strategic rationality of this deal cannot be denied. With a cheap price and top-level playing experience, Kepa can absolutely become a quality backup option in Mikel Arteta's rotation system. At the same time, his style of distributing the ball from the back also fits the philosophy that Arsenal is building.

“He could be on £100,000 a week just to sit on the bench, which is an option that no one would judge in the real world,” Foster concluded.

In 2018, Chelsea spent 80 million euros (71.6 million pounds) to buy Kepa from Athletic Bilbao, making this player the most expensive goalkeeper in the world . At first, playing football in England, the Spanish star showed impressive form, but gradually declined and lost his starting position.

Source: https://znews.vn/thu-mon-dat-gia-nhat-the-gioi-roi-chelsea-post1563680.html