Cape Town – Former Chelsea assistant manager and club legend Gianfranco Zola has broken his silence on Kepa Arrizabalaga's refusal to be substituted in the Carabao Cup final.
Arrizabalaga provoked fury from Maurizio Sarri at Wembley in February when the Spaniard refused to leave the field in the final moments of extra-time against Manchester City.
The keeper appeared to be suffering from cramp, but he was aghast when it seemed he was going to be replaced by Willy Caballero ahead of the penalty shootout.
Sarri was incensed by Arrizabalagas actions but the Chelsea boss later said that the episode had been a misunderstanding.
Chelsea fined the goalkeeper a weeks wages and he was dropped for the visit of Tottenham in midweek and now Zola has explained the crazy situation six months on.
“In the beginning, he misunderstood,” Zola told beIN Sports. “He was pretending he was injured because he wanted to waste time.
“There was nothing really wrong, but we then made some considerations. We knew we had Willy Caballero on the bench, who knew all of the Manchester City players and so it was an opportunity for us.
“We were going to make the change. It wasnt pre-arranged, but we saw the day before he was injured, so we thoughRead More
