Kepa Reflects on 'Huge Responsibility' as he Made the Decision to Join Chelsea

He said: "To be honest, I didn’t think much of it (the offer from Chelsea) at first, because my contract had a buyout clause of 80 million euros. Athletic were not even going to negotiate. They had never negotiated with the sales of important players like Javi Martínez, Fernando Llorente or Ander Herrera. 

"Obviously, I was very happy that a club with the history and potential of Chelsea was interested in me, but I just didn't think it was going to happen."

However, Chelsea's interest in the goalkeeper became much more solid as Thibaut Courtois departed for Real Madrid, leading the club to turn to Kepa.

"But a few days later my agent told me that Chelsea had offered a huge fee, if not quite the full clause. I was like, Wow, they must really want me. When they then offered to pay the buyout clause, I had a big decision to make." he continued.

"I spent days thinking about it. It felt like a huge responsibility, but also a huge compliment that a club like Chelsea had made such a big offer for me. In the end, I am very happy to be able to say that I said: 'Let’s go for it'."

Just days later the Spaniard would be unveiled as Chelsea's new number one and Courtois would soon be forgotten about as the Blues faithful put their trust in their new young goalkeeper.

Kepa continued:"Everything went very quickly. It felt as if I had been teleported into a new reality. I only knew my teammates from what I had seen on Spanish TV. As for my English, well ... it wasn't great.

"Fortunately, the club welcomed me with open arms, and I was lucky that there were many other Spaniards: Cesc Fàbregas, Álvaro Morata, Pedro, Marcos Alonso, César Azpilicueta — and also Mateo Kovačić, who arrived from Real Madrid at the same time and who also speaks Spanish."

Since arriving at Stamford Bridge in 2018, Kepa has lifted the Europa League and Champions League with the Blues and has not looked back as he has committed his future to Chelsea.