Last year, Chelsea agreed a deal with Genk to sign their young and talented goalkeeper Mike Penders.
Mike Penders will join up with Chelsea’s first-team squad this summer, but it looks like the Blues had to see off fierce competition to make this transfer happen.
French giants Paris Saint-Germain were also interested in the 19-year-old, something that he has now spoken about.
The signing of Penders is likely to spell the end of Djordje Petrovic. It is being reported that Petrovic will probably leave Chelsea in the next transfer window.
- READ MORE: How Chelsea loanee Mike Penders is proving his worth at Genk – Enzo Maresca must take note
Chelsea paid up for Mike Penders
While PSG are one of the richest clubs in the world, it appears that they were very reluctant to meet Genk’s asking price for Penders.
According to the shot-stopper himself, Chelsea’s plan to sign him was more concrete on both the financial and sporting side of things.
On Chelsea and PSG’s interest, Penders told De Morgen: “Chelsea did not choose me based on those few games in the first team. They had intensively followed me the entire season before at Jong Genk. So, you can see how important the academy is, and why you should take those competitions seriously.
“I didn’t see it coming — Chelsea and PSG are not the smallest clubs. There were still that interest showing, but they pushed through. Only PSG did not want to pay what Genk asked, they didn’t get out. Chelsea, on the other hand, came up with a very concrete plan, both sporting and financially.”
Chelsea believe Penders has “enormous potential” so will be glad that they managed to get a deal over the line in the end.
Chelsea could have brought Mike Penders to the club in January
While Chelsea signed Penders last August, he is not set to officially join the club until the summer.
However, Penders has revealed that Chelsea discussed bringing his transfer forward and a January move after a lack of game time at Genk.
The Belgian has been getting minutes of late, though, so leaving him there has probably worked out.
Enzo Maresca still has Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen in his squad, while Penders is untested at this level. As poor as Sanchez has been at times this season, sticking with the Spaniard and Jorgensen while letting Penders continue his development at Genk was the way to go.
Based on his potential, Penders may very well make it at Chelsea. But it may be too soon for him to become the club’s No.1.
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