It has been confirmed that Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga has been left out of Spain’s World Cup squad for this winter’s tournament.
The national team have elected to select David Raya, Robert Sanchez and Unai Simon.
This will no doubt come as a disappointment for the Blues man, who has been a completely different player since Graham Potter joined the club.
An injury to Edouard Mendy saw him handed the opportunity to impress under the new manager, and it was a chance he took.
He impressed enough to keep out the former UEFA goalkeeper of the year out even when he returned from injury.
His place in the team was more than warranted following a string of dominant performances, none more so than in the 2-0 victory against Aston Villa.
Kepa left out of Spain
The Spaniard was in inspired form to make a number of sensational saves, including a remarkable stop to deny Danny Ings from close range.
Pundit Martin Keown was quick to praise the 28-year-old for his turnaround in form, describing him as ‘inspired’.
However, despite his brilliance, he has not been named as a member of the travelling goalkeeping party to Qatar later this month.
He will have received news similar to that of Trevoh Chalobah in the England camp, with Gareth Southgate believing he had not done enough to displace the senior defenders who had previously been in the squad.
The advantage for Kepa will be that he will be spending time with the remaining Chelsea players who are not selected to represent their country.
In this time, Potter will be assessing his options as he looks to build a team that are ready to challenge for the top four in the second half of the season.
Receive a digest of our best Chelsea content each week direct to your mailbox
