Kepa Arrizabalaga has moved to Chelsea for a record £72m
Very few people had thought that a day like this would arrive when goalkeepers would be valued like strikers. Well, what happened during the Champions League final in Kiev in May convinced most people that a goalkeeper can make the difference between victory and defeat. Ask Liverpool FC.
It is the second time in 20 days and third time in a year that an English club has paid a world record fee for a new stopper.
Chelsea have raised the bar with the signing of Kepa from Atletico Bilbao on a seven-year contract; the same length of deal that Thibaut Courtois, the man he is replacing at Stamford Bridge, has signed with Real Madrid.
Teams now want a goalkeeper who is capable of launching attacks with accurate distribution from the back.
The new Chelsea stopper sees his signing at such a high fee as a mark of recognition for the importance of all goalkeepers.
Hear Kepa Arrizabalaga :
“It is great that big fees are paid for strikers and other players, but why not for goalkeepers? It is a good way to acknowledge a good goalkeeper.
“I find [Sarri’s] style and his ideas and the way he likes to play very attractive. I have references from players like Pepe Reina who was with him at Napoli and he was very happy with it. Mauricio’s style is not unlike the style of the Spain national team so I am used to it.”
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