Gianfranco Zola has revealed that Kepa Arrizabalaga left Maurizio Sarri ‘speechless’ when he refused to come off in last season’s EFL Cup Final.

Kepa defended his actions during Chelsea’s penalties defeat to Manchester City in February, explaining there was a ‘misunderstanding’ over his fitness.

Gianfranco Zola has revealed that Kepa Arrizabalaga left Maurizio Sarri ‘speechless’ when he refused to come off in last season’s EFL Cup Final.

Kepa defended his actions during Chelsea’s penalties defeat to Manchester City in February, explaining there was a ‘misunderstanding’ over his fitness.

However, Zola argued the Spaniard indeed disobeyed the now-Juventus boss as the pair felt having ex-City man Willy Caballero in goal would give their side the edge.

“In the beginning he misunderstood,” Sarri’s former assistant told beIN Sports.

“He was pretending he was injured because he wanted to waste time. There was nothing really wrong but we then made some considerations.

“We knew we had Willy Caballero on the bench, who knew all of the Manchester City players and so it was an opportunity for us.

“We were going to make the change. It wasn’t pre-arranged but we saw the day before he was injured, so we thought it was the injury coming back and we saw an opportunity because Caballero knows the Manchester City players so he can also be a good thing; simple as that.

“It was obviously not an easy situation to deal with. We could not believe it, we were speechless, we kept telling him to come off but he didn’t come.”

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