KEPA ARRIZABALAGA has warned “I want to play” ahead of a potential Chelsea exit this summer.
The goalkeeper has found himself largely on the sidelines since Edouard Mendy’s Stamford Bridge arrival in 2020.
Kepa, 27, lost his place after a number of blunder-filled performances, but he believes that he is now deserving of another shot at being a No1.
Quizzed by Marca about his relationship with boss Thomas Tuchel, the Spaniard said: “The conversation with him is easy, on a day-to-day basis he is totally accessible to the players.
“With me, personally, I notice the love and trust he has in me. Obviously, I want to play more.
“It is true that he is choosing another team-mate [Mendy] and that is what I try to change in my day to day, I want to play and for that I train and prepare myself.”
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Asked about a potential exit, he added: “Right now I am a Chelsea player.
“But what I am clear about is that I want to play more, because I come from a year or two where, when I have played, I have had a great performance.”
When Marca brought up his improved stats, he added: “For that reason, because of that good performance I had, the feeling is that I want more. I want to play more.
“I am at Chelsea and I want to succeed here. And if it wasn’t possible, we would analyse other different things, because my clear objective is to play.”
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Kepa then continued: “I am not desperate. In the end, I’m at a great club… I’ll talk to the coach and we’ll decide, but with the clear message that I want to play more.”
On a potential return to Athletic Bilbao, he said noncommittally: “You never know. I have three more years with Chelsea, and in football we don’t even know where we are going to be tomorrow.
“We’ll see what happens.”
Kepa also fired a subtle dig at former boss Frank Lampard.
The £71.6million goalkeeper produced a number of horror shows under Tuchel’s predecessor, but he has cited a “lack of control” under Lamps.
He said: “Yes. We came from a not so elaborate game [with Lampard], we didn’t have to take the ball from behind, a less planned game, more to the free expression of the player, back and forth and less control.
“With Tuchel we have returned to control. It is true that in the Premier we were not close to the top two, but in the other tournaments we have been very competitive.”
Kepa fired a dig at Frank Lampard
