Chelsea – Manchester United – Kepa, the unexpected resurrection of the most expensive goalkeeper in history

October 16, 2021, after four decisive saves and a huge performance from Edouard Mendy, Chelsea defeated Brentfrod (0-1). Small win, big keeper. “Edu was decisive, he really deserved the Ballon d’Or this year”, ignites Thomas Tuchel after the meeting. October 19, 2022, one year to the day after Mendy’s demonstration, Chelsea find Brentford. The Blues are doing well thanks to a great game by… Kepa, who signs his fifth consecutive clean sheet. Mendy is still there, on the bench.

The networks fall on him, the supporters take a dislike to him and Kepa sinks by playing only 11 Premier League matches in two years: “Gradually I lost confidence and ended up making some mistakeshe explained in the summer of 2021 to The Athletic. I accept criticism, of course. We always play under pressure. Living with negative comments on bad game nights is part of the job. But sometimes it goes too far.“Here he is raising his head when we least expected him.

Mendy devoured, Potter conquered

The Spaniard took advantage of a sharp drop in performance from Edouard Mendy and the Senegalese’s injury to convince Graham Potter. Here he is walking on water as if he had finally digested his arrival in the Premier League almost four years later. Since the start of the season, Kepa, who broke his save record in a match last weekend (7 against Aston Villa), has scored four times less (0.38) than Mendy (1.5) and yields significantly more points (2.5 per game versus 1.67). Incongruous a few weeks ago, his tenure is no longer debated today.

“It’s a great example that shows that things don’t always go the way you want, that sometimes you have to suffer in life, that it’s not always perfect.rejoiced Graham Potter. I was very impressed with his character and personality, he is very professional, understands the game very well and takes responsibility.” “I’ve known really difficult times and other more joyful ones, it’s life made up and downs”, replied Kepa. His redemption, flash and spectacular, reminds us that certainties are fragile in football more than elsewhere. Edouard Mendy, at the top and best goalkeeper in Europe in 2021, can no longer doubt it …