January 2020

Frank Lampard says Kepa Arrizabalaga is in control of his own destiny as the goalkeeper continues to fight to regain his spot in Chelsea's first team.

The Spaniard, whose £71.6m signing from Athletic Bilbao in 2018 makes him the most expensive goalkeeper of all time, was dropped by Lampard in January and has missed the last five matches.

Asked about his relationship with Kepa, Lampard said: "My relationship's fine. I have 20 or so players to keep happy; I can't keep them all happy at the same time.

"All I expect is professionalism in training, which Kepa's given.

"Every position is the same - you train well to try to get in the team if you're not in it. When you play, you try and play at performance levels that keep you in the team. That's the standards we have to have at this club - they're the ones that I demand.

"Every player is in control of their own destiny. Kepa's training well, but Willy Caballero also is training well. He's been playing pretty well - made some really good saves against Bayern Munich.

"I have competition there but I will decide as we go. That's why I am very strong on the fact that how you train, and how you turn up every day, is pivotal in how you are as a Chelsea player."

Kepa was once again on the bench for Chelsea's 3-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Following another disappointing result, reports suggested Kepa was one of a number of senior players Lampard was keen to move at the end of the season.

However, Lampard responded by saying: "I've read quite a bit of nonsense this week - people probably guessing players.

"As I just mentioned, every time a Chelsea player puts on the shirt, they're in control of their destiny. We can't always control collectively what a result will be, but individually you can control that.

"All I'm focusing on is what we do game by game, to try to get the best finish to this season we possibly can.

"Of course there are decisions for the club ongoing in the summer - we have to look at that. But there's no way I'm jumping into the future now. I have to say, a lot of those reports were wrong."