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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Chelsea fans noticed what happened to Kepa Arrizabalaga amid talk of imminent £18.7m transfer

All eyes were on Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in their Premier League opener against Brighton and Hove Albion.

It's no secret that the Spain international's status as the Blues' number one is under threat after some less than impressive performances in between the sticks last season.

In fact, Edouard Mendy is set to join the west London outfit from Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais in a deal worth an initial £18.47million, plus £2.7m in add-ons and Mark Schwarzer has predicted bad news for Kepa.

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"It’s obvious that there are questions marks over Kepa, I think his save ratio last season was the worst in the Premier League," Schwarzer told Goal. "He clearly hasn’t had a good time there. I think it hasn't been entirely his own doing - defensively Chelsea haven’t been at their best.

"I think the step up to Chelsea has been astronomical and add the fact that they’ve paid a world-record fee for him, it’s been really tough.

"I just don’t feel he’s progressed as far as they hoped he had hence why they believe they need to bring in another keeper to really push him.

"I’d be surprised if they brought in Mendy and didn’t wait too long before putting him in as number one. It could be very damaging [to Kepa] and he may feel he has little chance to retain it."

And amid talk of Mendy's imminent arrival, Kepa hardly covered himself in glory.

Despite being on the winning side at the Amex Stadium, a number of Chelsea fans weren't impressed with Kepa's role in Leandro Trossard's goal which made it 1-1 early in the second half.

The general consensus was that the effort should have been saved.

Take a look at what's been said on Twitter...

The importance of a goalkeeper is not lost on Jamie Carragher who says Chelsea must sign one in order to win the Premier League title.

"If Chelsea sign a top goalkeeper, I think that will make a big difference," he said.

"The stuff they’re talking about, how much they’ve actually spent, it is club money in some ways, but until they change the ‘keeper, they haven’t got a chance."

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