A serious split from his long-term girlfriend, Andrea Perez has been said to be responsible for Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga’s poor run of form this season. After a promising start to the season, the Spaniard has let in 32 goals in just 24 Premier League matches.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has been concerned about Kepa’s form lately, with reports saying that the Blues boss is set to sign a new goalkeeper for next season. The Spaniard was dropped in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw away to Leicester last week Saturday for Veteran Willy Caballero. The Argentine is expected to remain Chelsea’s No1 goalie until the end of the season.
FutballNews understand that January was one of the worst 31 days of Kepa’s life as he was rated the Premier League’s worst goalkeeper based on his overall save percentages and other available statistics. Kepa joined Chelsea from Atletico Bilbao on a club record fee of £71m.
According to Spanish daily El Mundo, Kepa has been dating Andrea, his childhood sweetheart for seven years before he left Spain for London. Before the break-up, the shot-stopper was always flaunting his girlfriend on social media, taking pictures and posting photos of them on vacations including one of them exploring the ruins of Tulum in Mexico in July 2017 and dinner dates in fancy restaurants.
The report claims that the last photo of them together was the one he uploaded on social media a month before he joined Chelsea in 2018. The Spaniard posted a picture of himself sitting alone on a tropical beach last summer. Since then he has suffered a dip in form.
El Mundo added that Kepa’s friends and family believe the break-up has had an effect on his form, describing the split as “recent”.
According to a family source, “Those close to him are clear about one of the main reasons for his drop in form, his recent split with his long-term girlfriend.”
Quoting an unnamed friend as saying: “He’s suffering quite badly”, it added: “His partner went with him to London when he left his former club Athletic Bilbao and had been his rock until the relationship ended.
“His parents, who still live in the Basque town of Ondarroa, try to spend time with him but emotionally he’s pretty low at the moment.”
