Arsenal have made their first signing of the summer by landing Spain goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga in a £5million deal from Chelsea.
Kepa has joined the Gunners on a three-year contract after spending last season on loan at fellow Premier League side Bournemouth, where he made 35 appearances.
The 30-year-old is still the world’s most expensive goalkeeper, having moved to Chelsea in 2018 from boyhood club Athletic Bilbao for £71million.
Kepa has now revealed that he already has a close friend at Arsenal, describing him as a “nice guy”.
As is often the case when a club makes a high-profile signing, Kepa was interviewed by the Arsenal media team about a number of light-hearted topics.
Kepa was asked what series he was watching at present (“none”), the last film he saw (“The Da Vinci Code”) and what he thought about this season’s goalkeeping kit (“beautiful”).
And when asked who his closest friends were in the Arsenal squad, Kepa went with one of his former Chelsea colleagues, Kai Havertz.
“I will say Kai for sure,” said Kepa. “Couple of seasons together, nice guy.”
Kepa will be reunited at Emirates Stadium with Havertz, with whom he played 57 times when the pair were together at Chelsea.
Kepa admitted that he reached out to Havertz before following in the German’s footsteps.
“I spoke with Kai,” he said. “He was with Martin [Odegaard] so we were talking.
“We had a good chat together and they already started explaining a little bit about how everything works and how good the atmosphere is right now in the changing room. So, I can’t wait to join.”
