These stories are samples pulled from external media sources. They do not represent the views or position of Chelsea Football Club.

Kepa grateful to work under Lampard

Kepa Arrizabalaga has told SNTV he feels ‘very lucky’ to have Frank Lampard as head coach at Chelsea, citing the experience and knowledge the Blues legend has brought into the management of the team.

Speaking in Spanish, the 25-year-old revealed how highly he regards his manager.

‘He is a coach that was, and he is a legend in the club,’ said the Spain international goalkeeper.

‘He was a very important player during his football career. Now he is in his second year as a coach but he is sharing all his experience. Everything he knows about football, and everything he has lived, gave to Chelsea, and the titles he won with them like the Champions League, the Premier League and all the possible trophies.

‘I am very lucky to have him as a coach.’

The Spaniard also spoke about how he is enjoying the positive vibes in the team at this time.

‘Of course, there are a lot of things that we could improve, and we still must grow as a team,’ he added.

‘We are still at the beginning of the season, but we are enjoying, and we are feeling good on the pitch and that's important for the team.’

Willian happy he remained in London

In an interview with DAZN for their Saudade series, Willian has revealed he is happy and settled at Chelsea despite interest from Barcelona in signing him last season.

Having arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2013, the Brazilian is one of our longest serving players although there was a possibility he could have moved on after the Catalan side registered their interest in his services.

‘The only real official offer I had came from Barcelona, last year, after the World Cup. Barcelona indeed presented an offer to Chelsea but it was rejected,’ said Willian, as reported by Metro.

‘That was the only actual time I had to discuss something like this with my family, although we really love it here [in London]. So there were several factors that helped us in staying.’

Johnson on going in goal for the Blues

After watching Kyle Walker play as an emergency goalkeeper for Manchester City in their Champions League match against Atalanta on Wednesday, former Chelsea full-back Glen Johnson has related to TalkSport his own amusing experience of going in goal for the Blues.

Johnson had to go between the posts during our FA Cup tie at Newcastle United in February 2005 when Carlo Cudicini was sent off late in the game after we had used all three of our substitutes.

The Blues were trailing 1-0 at the time and down to nine men after Wayne Bridge had been stretchered off with an ankle injury, but Johnson, then 20, saw the funny side of that experience.

‘I was playing right-back and was closest to the dug-out, so as Carlo was walking off the pitch he walked past me and without hesitation he chucked me his gloves!’ said Johnson.

‘I’ve caught the gloves and looked over my shoulder at the bench and everyone has turned their back on me, they’ve moonwalked out of my eye line.

‘Literally no one would look at me, so I was like, "Well I guess I’m going in goal then." Nobody talked me out of it, they didn’t want to know.

‘So now I’ve got Carlo’s shirt on which made me look like I was about 10 years old, and the first thing I had to do was defend a free kick which Laurent Robert, who has a hammer left foot, was lining up to take. I’m thinking, "Oh here we go."

‘And as I’m lining the wall up I’ve made eye contact with Frank Lampard and we’ve both burst out laughing!’

Johnson kept out Robert’s free-kick but Chelsea still lost 1-0 and were eliminated from the competition.