Chris Sutton has claimed that Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga should never play for the club again after his antics in the Carabao Cup final.
The Spanish stopper refused to come off after his number was called for a substitution having required breaks in play for an injury twice.
Manager Maurizio Sarri was left visibly angered by the incident, almost walking out of the dugout and down the tunnel to the changing room, and Sutton has been quick to criticise the player.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: “Kepa should never play for Chelsea again. He’s a disgrace.
“He’s undermined his manager. It’s disgusting. Never seen anything like it. If I was Sarri I would walk.”
Not much to talk about on #BBC606 ?@chris_sutton73: “Kepa should never play for Chelsea again. He’s a disgrace. He’s undermined his manager. It’s disgusting. Never seen anything like it. If I was Sarri I would walk.”
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— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) February 24, 2019
OPINION
Kepa is so far out of line on this one, and it’s understandable that Sarri has been left fuming by the whole incident. When his number is called, he has to go off, it’s as simple as that, and not doing so is a blatant and potentially damaging show of disrespect to his manager. To suggest that he should never play for the club again may be excessive, but certainly Sarri now faces a choice over what to do next. The knee jerk reaction would be to drop him, bring in Willy Cabalero for the Spurs match in midweek and show him who is the boss. The risk he runs with that is then having to play a weaker side than the one he has available, and that too could come back to bite him. The alternative is to let the keeper play and run the risk of looking like he holds no authority over his squad. This is a massive predicament for Sarri.