Kepa Arrizabalaga: World’s most expensive goalkeeper’s career takes new turn at Bournemouth | Football News

Barcelona. Juventus. Porto… Bournemouth’s transfer business this summer has seen them strike deals with some of Europe’s biggest clubs. It must feel somewhat surreal for their supporters, who can still remember their League Two days just 15 seasons ago.

But it is the arrival of the world’s most expensive goalkeeper that is truly intriguing. The curious career of Kepa Arrizabalaga has taken a new turn.

Marina Granovskaia said he would “play a key role in any success Chelsea achieve in the coming years” when the London club spent £71.6m on him in the summer of 2018, breaking the record fee for a goalkeeper set by Liverpool with Alisson a few weeks earlier.

The seven-year contract Kepa was given was a rarity at the time, but underlined the confidence Chelsea had in him. The 23-year-old seemed a certainty.

He certainly had confidence in his abilities at the time, refusing to be replaced by Maurizio Sarri in February of that year during extra time in Chelsea’s penalty shootout loss to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.

Apologies and a fine followed, and Kepa was briefly sidelined for Chelsea’s next league game, but his No.1 status was quickly reasserted by Sarri and a pair of penalties saved in the Europa League semi-finals helped the Blues to victory in that competition at the end of his first season in west London.

But then Kepa’s form took a turn for the worse. With Sarri gone and Frank Lampard brought in, Kepa’s second season at Stamford Bridge was statistically a poor one: he conceded 11 more goals than expected, according to the data. It was an alarming figure.

He is noticeably vulnerable to shots from outside the penalty area and his save percentage is just 53.47 per cent, the worst figure achieved by a Premier League regular this season.

“He makes far too many mistakes,” said Sky Sports’ Gary Neville at the start of the following season, when Kepa made two mistakes in two games and was replaced by the Petr Cech-recommended Edouard Mendy.

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Two seasons followed where he was largely sidelined, with Kepa watching Mendy guide Chelsea to Champions League glory under Thomas Tuchel.

There was a boost in the subsequent Super Cup victory over Villarreal, when Kepa came on as a final-minute substitute for Mendy and saved two penalties in the shoot-out. However, his efforts as a shoot-out specialist backfired in the Carabao Cup final later that season, when he failed to save a single Liverpool penalty and then missed his own in the 11–10 defeat.

There has been a revival under Graham Potter, with Kepa capitalising on a Mendy slump to save the day against Aston Villa in the 2022-23 campaign. However, Chelsea’s management, now bankrolled by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, were not convinced and signed Robert Sanchez as their next No.1, sending Kepa on loan to Real Madrid.

After the positive steps of the previous season, Kepa stumbled again. Real Madrid signed Kepa to replace the injured Thibaut Courtois – whom he had originally been called up to replace at Chelsea – but he was unimpressive and lost his starting place to Andriy Lunin, who he had been alongside when Courtois made his comeback in time for victory in the Champions League final in June.

Another frustrating season, which ended with Kepa, as expected, not being in the Spanish squad for the 2024 European Championship victory, having only played 13 international matches.

With no clear return option at Chelsea for the time being, Kepa was in dire need of a restart this summer.

Enter Bournemouth with the offer of a season-long loan to the south coast. A renegotiated contract with Chelsea saw Kepa accept a reduction in his hefty salary for a short extension and the chance to return to the Premier League. The Vitality Stadium may have been an unlikely destination, but Bournemouth are a club with a familiar manager in Kepa.

The goalkeeper came through the ranks at Athletic Bilbao when Andoni Iraola was captain of the Basque side. Their career paths did not see them play in the same team, but they did train together and their connection was a key element in one of the most high-profile deals of the transfer window.

There were flashes of Kepa at his best in his dramatic debut win at Everton, when he made sharp saves to keep out Iliman Ndiaye and Seamus Coleman from close range. That will have been heartening for those Bournemouth fans watching and wondering what they were going to get from their new No.1. They are not the only ones wondering.

Kepa will be on the sidelines again, unable to face his old club, when Chelsea visit the Vitality on Saturday night. But where his story goes will be a fascinating one to follow this season.

Watch Bournemouth vs Chelsea live on Sky Sports Premier League on Saturday; kick-off 8pm