"Absolutely not" - Enzo Maresca rules out recalling Chelsea loanee despite fine form this season

Enzo Maresca has ruled out bringing Kepa Arrizabalaga back to Chelsea this window. He does not see the Bournemouth loanee replacing Robert Sanchez in goal this season.

Speaking to the media ahead of the West Ham United clash, Maresca stated that he was not thinking of bringing back Kepa despite the poor performances from Sanchez. He was quick to rule out the recall and said via Goal:

"No, absolutely not!"

However, the manager has not ruled out making a change to his starting XI. He admitted that a decision has not been made on his goalkeeper against West Ham United. Maresca said:

“No, not yet. The decision, I have two-three days (to make). The good thing is any decision I make I feel good (about it) because every time Filip plays he has done well. So, Filip or Rob? We will see. Any decision will be okay."

“The only thing I can say is we need the fans, the players need them, but also understanding that sometimes for different reasons they cannot be happy with players or managers in general. But for sure we need their support because they have to trust our direction. I am the first one that if I see something I don’t like, I do not accept that," he added.

Robert Sanchez dropped the ball and that helped Wolverhampton equalize in the 3-1 win for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last month. The goalkeeper ran out of position and gave Erling Haaland an easy chance to make it 2-1 in the 3-1 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad last weekend.

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Former Chelsea player calls for Robert Sanchez to be dropped

Former Chelsea player Jason Cundy was on talkSPORT last week and called for Enzo Maresca to drop Robert Sanchez. He stated that the goalkeeper was making too many mistakes and was in the firing line.

He claimed that the ideal decision would be to drop the Spaniard and said via OneFootball:

“Personally, I would take him (Sanchez) out of the firing line. I think the time has come because there is so much noise. Maresca is being asked pretty much every press conference, whether it be post-match or pre-match, he’s being asked about this. The errors are coming, and the errors are costly.”

Chelsea have Filip Jörgensen, who was signed from Villarreal last summer, on the bench and has been their cup goalkeeper. He has played two Premier League matches – a 5-1 win at Southampton and a 0-2 loss at Ipswich Town.