Chelsea manager, Maurizio Sarri has said that new signing, Kepa Arrizabalaga is not yet at the level of his predecessor, Thibaut Courtois.
Arrizabalaga, who signed a seven-year deal at the Stamford Bridge, replaced former Chelsea first choice shot-stopper, Courtois, who signed for Real Madrid in a £35million deal on Thursday.
According to Sportmole, Sarri said that Arrizabalaga still has work to do if he is to live up to the standards set by Courtois.
The 59-year-old stated this ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Huddersfield Town on Saturday in the Premier League.
“I’m very happy for both. The Courtois situation was clear. He wanted to go to Madrid, so we lost maybe one of the most important goalkeepers in the world now,” Sarri told reporters at Friday’s press conference.
“We bought a young goalkeeper, I think one of the most important amongst the young goalkeepers in Europe. I’m really happy. I’m really happy with Kovacic.
“He has the characteristics for us. I’m really very happy and I think now the squad is complete. Kovacic is a very technical player. He’s able to play between the lines of the opponent. For us it could be very important.”
When asked whether Kepa can be better than Courtois, Sarri added: “Not at the moment, for sure. He’s very young, 23. I hope he can improve very fast. For the moment he’s not Courtois, for sure.”
Comments