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Chelsea news: Morata and Kepa cost £132m combined and get ZERO minutes for Spain
CHELSEA duo Kepa Arrizabalaga and Alvaro Morata were both overlooked during international duty this week.
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Chelsea spent a combined £132m on goalkeeper Kepa and striker Morata.
The Blues duo were selected for international duty by new Spain boss Luis Enrique.
But neither got a run out over Spain’s two fixtures this past week.
Sloan beat England 2-1 on Saturday and followed that up with a 6-0 routing of Croatia on Tuesday night.
They were thoroughly in control of the latter game, going 3-0 up at half time against the World Cup finalists.
But neither Kepa nor Morata got a chance to shine under Enrique.
Their snubs may come as a surprise for some but Enrique appears determined to foster a new-look Spain after a disappointing World Cup campaign.
Morata has now not started for his country since November 2017 and was overlooked for World Cup selection following a disappointing debut campaign at Chelsea.
He cost the Blues £60m last summer but was usurped by Olivier Giroud midway through the season.
As for Kepa, the £72m Blues signing is seen as the successor to David De Gea between the Spain sticks.
However, De Gea is proving a valuable asset at Manchester United and doesn’t appear ready to relinquish the No 1 spot with the national side any time soon.
Chelsea could have both Kepa and Morata back in action on Saturday when they host Cardiff in the Premier League (3pm).
Maurizio Sarri’s men then travel to PAOK in their first Europa League group stage game on Thursday.
Asked about his squad after the Croatia stuffing, Enrique said: "What I liked most about these ten days with the players was their attitude, the idea of expressing what we have worked in a few sessions clearly.
“It has been a spectacular day that we could not even imagine. It reinforces much more to start like this.”