Mike Penders has previously been tipped for big things at Chelsea, however some chiefs at the club are doubting he can make the step up to the first team next season.
Chelsea secured a £17m deal for Mike Penders back in 2024, and he has spent the time since then on loan at Genk and Strasbourg.
Liam Rosenior became a big fan of the goalkeeper after working with him at the Ligue 1 side, however he will now have no say on the club’s future after being sacked last week.
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Chelsea having doubts over Mike Penders becoming first team player next season
The current senior goalkeeper options at the club are Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen, with neither establishing themselves as an elite shot stopper in the Premier League.
Despite this, the Mail Online has reported that there are internal doubts about the option to promote Penders to be the number one next season, with another loan away on the table.
It would make sense for BlueCo for this to be with Strasbourg. While their league form has tailed off this season in comparison to 12 months ago, they have a real chance at securing Europa League qualification via the Conference League.
Chelsea got the best possible version of Andrey Santos after sending him for another full season with the French club, and may use that as motivation to send Penders out again.
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Penders continuing to follow in Courtois’ footsteps
Even before the Blues completed a deal to sign him, there were comparisons for the young Belgian to countryman and former Chelsea man Thibaut Courtois.
He himself spent a number of consecutive years on loan at Atletico Madrid before replacing Petr Cech as the first-choice shot stopper at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea were originally keen to avoid this in order to allow the goalkeeper to build a connection with the club and avoid him looking to leave in the future.
It looks like the club are now prepared to take this risk, and it will remain to be seen whether they raid the transfer market to bring in another goalkeeper to compete for the number one spot next season.
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