On loan Chelsea goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga has revealed that he left the club because he ‘felt the project was not the right one’.
Bayern Munich held interest in the 28-year-old before his move to Madrid. And he even came close to signing with them. Last month, Thibaut Courtois had a disastrous knee injury, which prompted Real Madrid to sign the Chelsea goalie.
When Kepa was questioned by Marca about Bayern’s interest, he said that Mauricio Pochettino wanted him to remain at Chelsea.
“Yes, it was very fast [move to Real Madrid]. It’s true that Pochettino wanted me to stay and he told me that I was going to play, that he trusted me, but I thought that a change would be good for me, I wanted a change. Thomas Tuchel called me. We were close to going to Munich,” he said.
When he was at Chelsea, Tuchel coached the Spain international, who wasn’t the manager’s first pick at Stamford Bridge.
According to Sport Witness, the stopper made his interest to join the Bundesliga champions known before Real Madrid joined the fray.
Robert Sánchez, who Pochettino acquired from Brighton & Hove Albion in August, is currently the Blues’ first-choice goalkeeper.
Kepa was additionally quizzed by COPE. And during the conversation, he gave his reasons for wanting to leave Chelsea during the recently closed transfer window.
“I felt it was time for a change of scenery. I wanted to stay, but I felt that the project was not the right one,” he said.
On his move to Real Madrid, Kepa explained: “When Madrid calls you, everything changes. My signing was closed in just a few hours and a couple of calls.”
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