Kepa Arrizabalaga is still refusing to leave the Wembley pitch a full 17 hours after the Carabao Cup final finished.
The Chelsea keeper ignored Maurizio Sarri’s demands that he was substituted for the penalty shooutout after suffering a bout of cramp twice during extra time.
Even as the stewards were closing the stadium last night the Spaniard would not leave the Wembley turf.
According to unofficial Chelsea insider Lee Satchell, Kepa kept insisting that he wasn’t injured to any steward or official that would listen inside the stadium, even after all the fans had left Wembley.
Satchell said: “The stewards were all ready to leave and were telling Kepa that the lights were going off and he should go home, but the young lad just kept shouting ‘no estoy herido’, which I’m told means he wasn’t injured.
“They tried to get Cesar Azpilicueta to get his countryman off the pitch so they could mow the lawn but the Chelsea captain just shrugged and walked off.
“I had to stay with Kepa all night as he point-blank refused to leave the grass. He started referring to himself as the Chelsea manager and telling me he could drop Sarri for the next game if he wanted to.”
As the Wembley officials entered the stadium this morning Kepa was apparently still stalking around the six-yard box looking as if he was ready to come and collect a cross at a moment’s notice.
Satched added: “They told him to get off the grass so they could begin preparing it for the North London derby this weekend but Kepa just put his hand up to wave them off, then turned around and winked at me.
“I spoke to Sarri and he was already trying to organise a loan move to Vitesse for Kepa but on hearing the news, the goalkeeper started clinging to the goalposts saying that this was now a protest and he would never leave Wembley.
“All in all, it is a pretty normal weekend for us at Chelsea.”
