Chelsea’s Maurizio Sarri says he may not deploy the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, in the Blue’s seasonal opener against Huddersfield at the John Smith’s Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
The 23-year-old joined from Athletico Bilbao in a £72M deal that quickly stripped Liverpool’s recent arrival Alisson of his title as the most expensive stopper on the planet. So recent was his arrival, however, his place in the Chelsea nets in Yorkshire is not certain.
And the club’s new Italian boss seems happy that the business of releasing one keeper in Courtois, who left for Real Madrid, and recruiting another was tied up in time for yesterday’s deadline.
'I am very happy. Courtois' situation was clear, he wanted to go to Madrid. But we bought a young goalkeeper, one of the most important... in Europe. I am really happy,’ he said during his pre-match press conference today.
While he was complimentary about his the Basque player, he also sounded a note of caution about expecting a player of his age to match the performances of the Belgian international immediately when thrown in.
'He is very young, 23. I hope he can improve very fast but for the moment he is not Courtois, of course.”
The Croatian international midfielder Mateo Kovacic will come to Stamford Bridge on a loan agreement as a sweetener for the Courtois deal, and Sarri was keen to express his contentment with this, too.
He has the characteristics for us,' said the former Napoli manager.
'He is a very technical player and he likes to play between the lines of the opponent. For us, that could be very important.
'So I'm really happy and now, I think, the squad is complete.'
