I feel pretty confident with this headline, as ballsy as it is. Chelsea paid £72m for Kepa Arrizabaluga. Seventy-two million pounds. I think it’s perfectly fair to call this the worst business ever done in the English top flight.
Look at this farce, aka West Ham’s equaliser tonight, scored by towering Czech Tomas Soucek (who is 6ft 4in and makes his marker Cesar Azpilicueta look like an Ewok). Kepa comes off his line when he has zero chance of getting the ball, flaps like a baby bird, bounces off his own player and, the coup de grace, falls backwards into his goal. Embarrassing.
Kepa is capable of good reflex saves, like any professional goalkeeper, but I’ve never seen a keeper with less command over his own patch. Here was a rare occasion when he did leave his line, and of course he botched it. Honestly, Chelsea players would be better off conceding penalties than corners and free-kicks. At least Kepa has a fighting chance with a penalty – he doesn’t have to jump for the ball and he has to stay on his line.