Interesting Facts About Kepa Arrizabalaga And His Career From Childhood
- Think Football Ideas
- 6 hours ago
- 6 min read
Full Name: Kepa Arrizabalaga Revuelta
Date of Birth: 3 October 1994
Place of Birth: Ondarroa, Spain
Height: 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s): Goalkeeper
Current Club: Arsenal
Jersey Number: 13
There’s more to Kepa Arrizabalaga than meets the eye. His journey through football has been anything but ordinary, a career marked by twists, fortitude, and relentless evolution. He’s faced the spotlight, the silence, the pressure, and the praise, and through it all, kept moving forward.
Goalkeepers often live in the margins of matches, but Kepa? He’s always found a way to be in the thick of the story. And his story? It’s far from over.
Here Are Interesting Facts About Kepa Arrizabalaga And His Career
1. Basque Beginnings And A Taxi To Greatness
Before the big contracts and Champions League nights, Kepa was just a determined boy from Ondarroa, a quiet fishing town nestled along Spain’s rugged northern coast. At age nine, his footballing instincts led him to join Athletic Club's famed academy, but it wasn't a simple hop across town.
Kepa and three mates would squeeze into a taxi for a 45-minute journey to Lezama multiple times a week. Imagine that: a kid with oversized gloves, juggling school and dreams, riding across provinces to chase a shot at professional football.
By the time he turned 16 in 2010, Kepa was already training with Bilbao’s first team. Six years later, in September 2016, he made his senior debut in La Liga. The boy from Ondarroa had arrived, not by luck, but by relentless mileage.
2. Gloves Before Gadgets – A Childhood Obsession
Some kids wanted bikes. Others begged for a Game Boy. Not Kepa. As a child, he would pass by a local sports shop in his hometown and point out a specific pair of goalkeeping gloves every single time.
“I want those, the gloves,” he once told The Players’ Tribune, stretching out the syllables like a chant. After enough pleading, his parents caved. But the gloves were too big, practically swallowing his arms, but he didn’t care.
That moment marked the beginning of a love affair with goalkeeping that no coach or contract could ever replicate. He wore those gloves proudly, elbow-deep in passion, turning up at training like a miniature Iker Casillas in sleeves that dragged behind him.
3. The Songbird Champion You Didn’t Expect
Now here’s a curveball: Kepa isn’t just good with gloves, he’s also got a golden ear. As a teenager, he and his father trained goldfinches to sing. No, really. In the 2008 and 2010 Songbird Championships of Vizcaya, Kepa wasn’t listed in the matchday squad, he was on the winners' list.
Using patience and a deep appreciation for sound, he coached birds to produce intricate tunes. That ability to focus on fine details, to train something so delicate? It says a lot about the way he approaches his craft between the sticks.
4. Watching Goalkeeping Greats To Build His Style
Kepa may be a product of the Spanish goalkeeping school, but his influences cross borders. He grew up studying the composed brilliance of Iker Casillas, the sweeping authority of Manuel Neuer, and Petr Čech, whose calm presence stuck with him.
When Čech took up a technical director role at Chelsea during Kepa’s spell in west London, their relationship evolved into something more than admiration.
Kepa once mentioned how they’d talk daily at Cobham: not just about saves, but strategy, mindset, movement, helping him with the right mental framework to navigate the storm of expectations. Kepa’s style, calm, proactive, sharp off his line, is a mosaic built from those he once admired from afar.
5. World Cups, Nations Glory, And The Spanish Crest
International football came calling in November 2017, when Kepa earned his senior debut for Spain, replacing Pepe Reina against Costa Rica.
That moment was a full-circle nod to his youth success, especially the 2012 UEFA U19 European Championship, where he made two crucial penalty saves in the semi-final against France. Spain went on to win the tournament, and Kepa announced himself as a clutch performer under pressure.
More recently, he lifted silverware with Spain’s senior side in the UEFA Nations League, joining an exclusive group of players to win trophies with their national team at both youth and senior levels. Though often cast as a backup, his loyalty, work ethic, and readiness never wavered as he showed up, quietly but consistently, when it mattered.
6. A Genius In The Shadows – The Bielsa Chapter
Kepa never played under Marcelo Bielsa, but his time at Athletic Club overlapped with the Argentine’s intense reign, and it left a mark.
He’s called Bielsa a “genius” for how he reshaped the mindset of young players. Even from a distance, Bielsa demanded precision, discipline, and maturity, traits Kepa absorbed while training with the first team at just 16.
“I was only 16 when I was involved with the first team, and I learnt a lot from trainers such as Joaquín Caparros and Marcelo Bielsa,” he once told Chelsea's official website. “The fact that I joined the first team at such a young age meant it was a major turning point. “It meant I had to mature much quicker, and then there was the opportunity given to me by Ernesto Vervelde.”
7. The World’s Most Expensive Gloves
When Chelsea triggered Kepa’s release clause in 2018, eyebrows went up, and jaws dropped. At £72 million, he became the most expensive goalkeeper in football history, a record that still stands.
It wasn’t just the price that made headlines, it was the pressure. Young and foreign, Kepa was handed the keys to a massive club and had to adapt quickly. And while his Chelsea journey had its ups and downs, that number on the transfer fee never broke him. He kept showing up, kept grinding.
8. Redemption And Records At Chelsea
Despite being in and out of favour, Kepa carved out moments that mattered. At one point, he kept 10 consecutive clean sheets, hit 50 total for the club, and pulled off a showstopper save against Aston Villa that earned him the Premier League Save of the Season award.
He also became Chelsea’s penalty shootout king, surpassing even Čech. Seven shootout saves, including clutch moments vs Spurs, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Villarreal, cemented his legacy as a man for the spotlight.
Kepa may not have always been Chelsea’s undisputed number one, but when drama struck, he usually had the gloves on.
9. A South Coast Revival
After a brief loan spell with Real Madrid, where injuries limited his involvement but still included a Champions League medal for the 2023-24 season, Kepa returned to the Premier League in 2024/25 on loan with Bournemouth. It proved to be a sharp return to form under Andoni Iraola's management.
He started over 30 matches and played a crucial role in what became one of Bournemouth’s best league finishes in recent memory. His form peaked with a Save of the Month award for a lightning reflex stop against Wolves, one that silenced critics and reminded the English top flight of his quality.
It was more than just a comeback, it was a quiet, defiant roar.
10. The Arsenal Chapter Begins
With over a decade of top-flight experience and international pedigree, Kepa arrived at Arsenal on July 3, 2025, ready for a new challenge. Reuniting with familiar faces from his Chelsea and Spain days, becoming part of a growing Spanish core at the Emirates.
He joined the likes of fellow countrymen who’ve worn the Arsenal badge before him, from Cesc Fàbregas to Santi Cazorla, becoming the 17th Spaniard to represent the Gunners’ first team. For Kepa, this isn’t just another move. It is a fresh chapter at a club known for tactical precision and big ambitions, a perfect stage for a goalkeeper still chasing peak form.
Comentarios