Player says he left Chelsea as ‘project was not right’ – Blues exit was sealed in ‘just few hours’

On August 14th, Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga joined Real Madrid on a loan deal.

Prior to making a switch to Madrid, Bayern Munich showed interest in the 28-year-old and he even came close to joining them. Thibaut Courtois suffered a serious knee injury last month and this encouraged Real Madrid to sign the Chelsea stopper.

Marca interviewed Kepa and when asked about Bayern’s interest, he explained Mauricio Pochettino wanted him to stay 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.

Tuchel managed the Spain international when he was at Chelsea and the latter wasn’t first-choice for the manager at Stamford Bridge. Despite this, the stopper opened the door to joining the Bundesliga winners before Real Madrid entered the picture.

“Yes, well it’s also true that although I didn’t play with him, it reinforces you a little that a coach, that in the first stage you have not played at all with him, then he claims or wants you in his team, this makes you feel good,” Kepa explained.

Chelsea also allowed Édouard Mendy to leave Stamford Bridge as he made a permanent switch to Al-Ahli in the last window.

The Blues brought in Robert Sánchez from Brighton & Hove Albion in August and he’s now the first-choice goalkeeper for Pochettino.

Meanwhile, COPE have also interviewed Kepa, where he explained why he was so keen to leave Chelsea in the recently concluded 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.”