Chelsea’s third-choice goalkeeper Rob Green has opened up on his role with the club this season. It came as a surprise to many fans of the club when the 39-year-old joined last summer.
He is, after all, a keeper well past his prime and many neutrals would have expected the former England number one to retire after his contract was not renewed by Brighton and Hove Albion at the end of last season.
Green was brought in to provide competition to Kepa and Willy Caballero. He would only likely be used in the event of an emergency situation in the goalkeeping department and unsurprisingly, he has not played a minute of competitive action this season – extending his time off the pitch to nearly two years. The last time that he played a competitive match was for Leeds United back in 2017.
Discussing his role for Chelsea this season, Green told BBC: “My involvement hasn’t been as much as I would have liked but it was made clear from the start; if everyone remains fit that is the role I have got. I can’t really complain when that is exactly how it has panned out.
“I go to all of the meetings, do all of the pre-match, do the warm-up and help in every way you can, whether it is collecting balls, saving shots or crossing balls in. Then, when the players are ready to come out on to the pitch, you are getting changed and more often than not at away games I find a cup of tea and go and sit in the stand.”
It remains to be seen whether Green will be offered another contract beyond this season. He would have been widely expected to retire at the end of this term but the Blues may have to just offer him another one year deal if push comes to shove. The contracts of second-choice Willy Caballero and on-loan Eduardo are due to expire this summer. If both players reject the offer of a new deal, the Blues may just have to offer another deal to the ageing Green as they would lack an experienced cover option to Kepa.
