Tuchel’s statement about Kepa amid all the speculation

Due to all the speculation and rumors, Thomas Tuchel had to come out and clarify his stance on the Kepa/Mendy debate at Chelsea.

Chelsea’s Kepa just had a window of light in his career, it was given to him by Thomas Tuchel right after he arrived as the new manager. If you didn’t know, the Basque goalie came from Athletic Bilbao with a major responsibility to become the Blues top man in the position. Initially, he had great performances under Maurizio Sarri but he fell from grace under Frank Lampard.

Things escalated to a point where the club had to buy a new goalkeeper and they chose Edouard Mendy. The Frenchman has been delivering impressive results since he arrived without leaving Kepa a single chance. This changed over the past month with Tuchel, who gave the Spaniard a fresh start. As a result, he delivered two clean sheets but the controversy was served. The press wants to know who has the starting role and the gaffer needed to come out to clarify things.

"He earned his right to play"

Thomas Tuchel has been delighted with the 'fresh start' Kepa has made at Chelsea since his arrival pic.twitter.com/lruOb4wGQq
— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) February 19, 2021

Mendy’s position is secured.

“Nothing has changed. Edou is the number one and he deserves to be the number one,” Tuchel said via Metro. “It is a sensitive position where you need to be clear and you cannot hide. You cannot hide your opinion in press conferences or in the dressing room. Things have to be clear and you cannot be afraid of it and we are not. Things have not changed. But, like I said, we need three strong goalkeepers and everybody to be ready because the challenge is high.

“The goals to achieve are high in this club. We need everybody to be ready. Not just the goalkeeper but all 22 guys on the field to be ready now. That’s whatever they are needed for, if we need them for five minutes then they have to be ready to play those five minutes, from the beginning or half-time. If you are not in the squad from a bad decision, maybe next time we need you. This is the topic for the next few weeks and this includes Kepa. I can only repeat myself, Kepa did two good matches with two clean sheets.”