Chelsea Transfers

[Vesper 31,037]

 

[Mhsc 1,139]

Very exciting to have Santos coming back, before Xmas I was a bit skeptical he would actually come back and play, when we were in a brief moment where everyone was fit, it was hard to imagine him displacing more expensive signings. But seeing how he's kicked on and maintained a high level I think there is a real case that he could win and hold down a spot, I think every MF we have except for Caicedo should certainly consider him a very immediate threat to their playing time. 

[TheHulk 2,636]

15 minutes ago, Mhsc said:

Very exciting to have Santos coming back, before Xmas I was a bit skeptical he would actually come back and play, when we were in a brief moment where everyone was fit, it was hard to imagine him displacing more expensive signings. But seeing how he's kicked on and maintained a high level I think there is a real case that he could win and hold down a spot, I think every MF we have except for Caicedo should certainly consider him a very immediate threat to their playing time. 

People are so naïve with these garbage owners, they already sneakily briefing he will only leave if Santos will agitate for a move, the idiots are already preparing the field for when they will sell him and say he wanted to go so they had no choice but to let him go. The same thing will happen with Veiga.

Edited March 21, 2025 by TheHulk

[TheHulk 2,636]

Get rid.

[Vesper 31,037]

Mike Penders will join Chelsea in the summer – is he ready for the Premier League?

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6215603/2025/03/20/mike-penders-Chelsea-analysis/

In mid-February, we invited requests from our subscribers for articles you might like to read on The Athletic as part of our latest Inspired By You series. Nemanja M. asked for a piece on Mike Penders, his potential, and whether he could be a generational talent.

Liam Twomey took a look…

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Chelsea’s weekly goalkeeper psychodrama took another twist before Sunday’s 1-0 defeat against Arsenal, with head coach Enzo Maresca’s effective admission that Robert Sanchez has been restored as his No 1 after being given time out of the team to “rest his head”.

Sanchez went on to deliver his familiar mixed bag of erratic distribution and impressive saves at the Emirates Stadium. There still appears to be no realistic prospect of the Spaniard winning the trust of Chelsea’s match-going supporters anytime soon.

Filip Jorgensen clearly did not do enough in his Premier League audition to convince Maresca of his superiority to Sanchez. The wait for the truly elite goalkeeper Stamford Bridge has craved since Thibaut Courtois pushed his way to Real Madrid in the summer of 2018 will stretch at least until the end of this season.

But could the answer be close at hand and could it be another giant Belgian from Genk who carries a squinting resemblance to Courtois?

Mike Penders — only 19 years old but standing almost 6ft 7in (200cm) with a formidable wingspan — will join Chelsea this summer. His arrival comes almost 12 months after a deal was agreed to bring him to London under the noses of several other major European clubs.

 

Chelsea’s goalkeepers have struggled this season (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)

The imminent arrivals of exciting attackers Estevao and Kendry Paez have garnered more headlines, but given the lack of clarity at the base of Maresca’s team and the scarcity of world-class goalkeepers, Penders has the potential to make even more of an impact.

In the short term, Chelsea and Maresca must assess his level of readiness at the end of his first professional season. To date, Penders has made only 11 appearances in the Belgian Pro League, having been promoted to Genk’s first-choice goalkeeper in January. That is a perilously small sample size from which to make definitive judgements.

Penders’ outings for Genk are, however, substantial enough for a goalkeeping specialist to get a clear sense of his style as well as his strengths and weaknesses at this early stage. With that in mind, The Athletic enlisted the expertise of Matt Pyzdrowski, a retired professional goalkeeper who works as head academy goalkeeping coach for Swedish champions Malmo.

Here is a breakdown of several key aspects of Penders’ game.

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Distribution

Pyzdrowski’s overriding impression of Penders is a startling one. “I’ll start with his style of play and the two goalkeepers I’m going to name will get people excited, but at the same time, I also want to pump the brakes,” he says. “The two goalkeepers he reminds me of are Courtois and Ederson. He’s kind of a mix of the two.”

Ederson shines through more in Penders’ distribution — in particular, his ability to find team-mates higher up the pitch with impressively accurate longer passes.

“He’s not as composed with the ball at his feet as Ederson yet, but what I really like about Penders is his ability to go long,” Pyzdrowski adds. “He’s able to stretch the field just like Ederson and start counter-attacks from nothing, which is a huge asset. The way he hits the ball is fast, direct, but also very accurate.”

On the surface, this particular quality seems a little redundant under Maresca, who has pledged to substitute Sanchez and Jorgensen this season if they kick long. But there is an important distinction to make between a goalkeeper kicking long and passing long; Maresca’s primary issue is with the former and his desire to avoid simply gifting possession back to the opposition.

Penders’ ability to identify and hit a longer pass over or through an opposition press could be an asset to any high-possession team. His technique is also polished over shorter distances.

But when it comes to baiting the opposition press as Maresca frequently wants his goalkeeper to do, Penders is more of a work in progress. “One area where he’ll need to develop is playing under pressure,” Pyzdrowski admits. “Genk love to build up from the back, but often he has time on the ball. Even if a press comes, it isn’t really a high press.

“He’s never been punished for a poor pass (by conceding a goal), but he gets stressed when the opposition really press. That’s not unique to him among goalkeepers — Ederson is an outlier.

“Penders will need to develop that when he takes the next step (to Chelsea) because teams will notice that and press him high.”

When not being harried, Penders’ relatively high comfort level on the ball — even well outside his penalty area — seems well suited to Maresca’s system.

“He’s very comfortable playing high off his line with his feet in the build-up,” Pyzdrowski says. “That’s the way Genk play and Chelsea like that as well. And with his ability to go long, if he’s standing 30 yards from goal with the ball at his feet, that means a ball into the opponent’s box is on and he can very easily start an attack.”

 

Chelsea goalkeepers need to be comfortable with the ball at their feet (Johan Eyckens/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)

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Shot-stopping

Even in an era when elite clubs and their coaches increasingly want 11 skilled outfielders in possession, keeping the ball out of the net remains the fundamental differentiator of a great goalkeeper. Pyzdrowski sees rich promise in Penders’ shot-stopping ability, but also plenty of room for physical and technical improvement.

“One area he needs to improve is his ability to traverse his goalmouth,” he says. “He can be a bit slow in some of his actions and footwork. That’s not crazy because he is only 19, but when you watch clips of him, it’s not often that he traverses his whole goalmouth and makes an extension save.

“You could say that’s because he has really good positioning but when he’s out of position, he doesn’t necessarily get over in time. When he doesn’t need to take a lot of steps he’s very, very good. When the ball is more towards the side of the goal, low or high, he needs to get a bit more explosive in those situations.

“Part of it is work in the gym with a good strength and conditioning coach — focusing on explosive plyometric exercises, jumping up and down and from side to side.

“Controlling your feet underneath you is hard for a lot of taller goalkeepers and that’s part of what made Courtois and (Petr) Cech so great. They were very tall but also very quick traversing their goalmouth to make the big saves their teams needed them to make.”

This also applies to shots Penders tries to save above his head. “When fans see him play, he will probably remind them of Courtois,” Pyzdrowski adds. “Even though he’s really tall, he bends down quite low and holds his hands low at his sides as well. That’s something Courtois has done for a long time, a staple of his technique.

“The thing that makes Courtois so great is that he can go from that low position and move his hands up very quickly to get balls above his head. That’s an area Penders will have to improve. That comes back to the explosion and agility, for him to dig his feet into the ground and use his trailing leg to set and push off towards the ball.

“In a lot of the goals he concedes, he doesn’t do it and just falls to the ground rather than using his legs to get himself to the ball.”

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Command of the penalty area

It might not come as a huge surprise that, given his size, Penders is already very adept at claiming high balls into his penalty area.

“Commanding his area is what he’s best at,” Pyzdrowski says of Penders. “He’s really, really excellent at taking an aggressive position and very comfortable coming and taking high balls into his penalty area, even right up to the edge of the box. His timing is very good and he loves to catch the ball rather than punch.

“That’s why I call him a mix between Ederson and Courtois, because Ederson has that aggressiveness commanding his box but Courtois has the hands to catch and hold the ball.”

Penders’ preference for catching the ball could be a refreshing break from the growing Premier League trend of goalkeepers punching away in-swinging corner kicks. It could also potentially provide more reassurance to a Chelsea defence that can still appear uncertain when defending set pieces.

His penalty area presence for Genk is not only felt when facing high balls. “On his line and with balls around his area, he’s really good,” Pyzdrowski adds. “He’s a big guy but he’s very quick to pounce when there’s a free ball in and around his box. He uses his body and has really good timing in those situations.”

 

Penders has good command of his penalty area (Virginie Lefour/Belga/AFP via Getty Images)

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Sweeper-keeping

The ability to defend far from goal has become an important skill for modern goalkeepers and a vital one in teams, such as Chelsea, who seek to defend with a high line for long stretches of games.

“He’s very fast off his line — almost too fast because he’s very uncontrolled in those situations,” Pyzdrowski says of Penders. “A lot of the time he rushes out recklessly and you end up giving away fouls and penalties. Other times he’s rushed out and opened up an angle to concede a goal, so his decision-making in those situations will have to get better.

“In that way, he also reminds me of Ederson, who has been better in recent years but had some ugly moments (early on at Manchester City) with his timing in one-versus-one situations.”

Ederson’s example suggests that this particular flaw in Penders’ game is eminently fixable.

“This is not strange because he’s so young and he doesn’t have a tonne of game time at the top,” Pyzdrowski adds. “As a goalkeeper coach, I would much rather have a goalkeeper who’s too aggressive than too passive. You can always rein in a goalkeeper who is too aggressive, but it’s very hard to get a passive goalkeeper to play more aggressively because they’re so rooted to their line.”

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Readiness for Chelsea?

By the time Courtois finally made his competitive Chelsea debut in August 2014, he was 22, with four full seasons as a No 1 goalkeeper behind him — three of which were spent on loan at Atletico Madrid, where he won the Europa League, Copa del Rey and La Liga — and reached a Champions League final. He already had a case for being the best goalkeeper in the world.

Penders, clearly, is at a far earlier point in his development. “He’s a project,” Pyzdrowski says. “If there are Chelsea fans out there hoping he arrives in the summer and competes for the No 1 spot, it’s too early.

“It would also be a risk to throw him into that situation. That’s not to say a 19-year-old can’t handle it, there are examples, but other goalkeepers have got a chance too early and faded because it crushes their spirit and beats them down.

“If Chelsea really believe in him, they’ll be smart and maybe go through pre-season or half a season with him before loaning him out again to continue to get first-team football and develop.”

The key difference is that with Courtois, Chelsea had the rare luxury of being patient because of the enduring greatness of Cech. None of the current goalkeepers on the club’s books are anywhere near as accomplished, making the question of how Penders’ development is handled much more fraught.

But there is no doubt or debate about his potential upside. “When you have someone two metres tall and as quick and agile as he is, it’s a huge advantage for him and something that gets noticed because it’s not normal,” Pyzdrowski says of Penders.

“If he gets game time and works on his deficiencies, it’s not hard to see him being one of the best goalkeepers in the world in a few years.”

[Vesper 31,037]

Whether Chelsea could actually afford to launch £200m bid to sign Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior this summer

https://tbrfootball.com/whether-Chelsea-could-actually-afford-to-launch-200m-bid-to-sign-real-madrids-vinicius-junior-this-summer/

 

Brazilian superstar Vinicius Junior is in talks with Real Madrid over a new contract, but he does have interest from elsewhere, TBR Football understands.

The 24-year-old is now widely recognised as one of the best footballers on the planet and narrowly missed out on last season’s Ballon d’Or.

His current deal, that he signed in 2023, runs out in just over two-years and as such Real have instigated contract talks.

During that time Vinicius has seen Kylian Mbappe arrive on the club’s largest contract, understood to be worth around £500,000-a-week.

The Brazilian is a little way off Mbappe in terms of his current wages and is believed to be seeking near parity with his French colleague and TBR Football understands that is forming part of the current talks.

Both parties are confident that a deal is close, but whilst a deal is not signed – links continue to emerge with possible moves away.

The Saudi Pro League are long-term admirers of Vinicius and we are told would pay ‘whatever is required’ to land him and sources in Spain suggest that £200million would be the level that Real would consider business.

Saudi Pro League could compete with Chelsea for Brazilian superstar

Aside from the Pro League, TBR Football can confirm that Chelsea are huge admirers of Vinicius and would also be very interested in landing him, if the opportunity arose.

Part of Chelsea’s interest is based on the fact that a move to London is believed to appeal to Vinicius if, and when, he does move on from Madrid.

Whilst in theory Chelsea and Vinicius could be open to one day linking up – could it actually happen? No doubt Chelsea could afford any deal, but would the Premier League’s rather restrictive PSR rules prevent any sort of deal from happening? Not necessarily.

Could PSR stop Vinicius Junior from moving to the Premier League?

We spoke to our Head of Football Finance and Governance Adam Williams to get the lowdown on whether a deal would be possible.

“The mantra of Chelsea’s owners seems to be ‘move fast break things’. They have only complied with Premier League PSR because of intra-company property sales, like the Stamford Bridge hotel sale that generated £76.5m for the profit and loss account,” Williams explained.

“UEFA’s rules, which the Premier League has rejected the chance to mirror pending the outcome of Manchester City’s challenge to the APT system, are tighter.

“However, the punishments are much less sever. UEFA are handing out relatively tiny fines – that’s why the likes of Aston Villa and Chelsea, are, I think, comfortable with breaching their rules.

“UEFA’s system is acting more like a competitive balance tax at the moment, like the set of rules in Major League Baseball, which Boehly and Mark Walter are familiar with through their ownership of the Dodgers.

“So if they were interested in a deal for Vinicius Junior, it’s the domestic rules they would have to worry about, not the European ones.

“I think if there is a realistic chance of a deal of transfer of this magnitude and they really wanted to make it happen, they could probably make it work.

“That would be through a combination of player sales and, potentially, more financial sleights of hands from the accounting department.

“We haven’t seen their accounts for 2023-24 yet, but the estimates are that they will post a small profit thanks to the intra-company player sales.

“In 2024-25, their massive operating losses and the – apparent – lack of intra-company sales mean that they will be well in the red again, although for PSR purposes it will be a more modest loss than previous seasons.

“Although he wouldn’t really fit their usual recruitment profile, the commercial value of a player like Vinicius Junior might tempt them to test the limits of PSR once again.

“That said, they obviously wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near what the Saudis are said to be offering him.”

[OneMoSalah 9,089]

Vini Jr? Here? Why on earth would he leave Madrid to come here 😂

Plus obviously we would be interested, who wouldn’t but still talk about a non starter from the get go…. 

[Mário César 1,475]

and nothing about sanchez

we brought renato and kdh and they already will be sold lool

[mkh 748]

Chelsea must pay Manchester United £5m if Jadon Sancho loan is not turned permanent in summer. 24yo winger left MUFC on temporary basis with buy obligation worth up to £25m but CFC can opt out for set fee. via@David_Ornstein @liam_twomey @SJohnsonSport @TheAthleticFC

 

‼️FC Sevilla are very interested in signing Mykhailo Mudryk in the summer. And the player would welcome his arrival at Sevilla.

It will all depend on the resolution of the CAS, although Sevilla have already started moving their cards to get ahead of the rest of the competition. 

{Sport}

Edited March 23, 2025 by mkh

[TheHulk 2,636]

46 minutes ago, mkh said:

Chelsea must pay Manchester United £5m if Jadon Sancho loan is not turned permanent in summer. 24yo winger left MUFC on temporary basis with buy obligation worth up to £25m but CFC can opt out for set fee. via@David_Ornstein @liam_twomey @SJohnsonSport @TheAthleticFC

 

‼️FC Sevilla are very interested in signing Mykhailo Mudryk in the summer. And the player would welcome his arrival at Sevilla.

It will all depend on the resolution of the CAS, although Sevilla have already started moving their cards to get ahead of the rest of the competition. 

{Sport}

For 5m he is gone, was thinking it's much higher penalty fee.

[OneMoSalah 9,089]

8 hours ago, Mário César said:

and nothing about sanchez

we brought renato and kdh and they already will be sold lool

Worst thing is half of those players, they were bought by the two co sporting directors…. When are they going to be held accountable?

And then look again at the Sancho situation. Or Mudryk.

Honestly it is ridiculous and people wonder why we are in such a dire state with regards to club-fan harmony, everything is self inflicted 🙄

Edited March 24, 2025 by OneMoSalah

[mkh 748]

🟢Chelsea could see Jadon Sancho depart the club in the summer, despite being set to add the Englishman to their ranks in a permanent capacity from Manchester United - with sources revealing that Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen could be queuing up to land him in the summer transfer window. (via@DeanJones)

 

🔵Chelsea have closed doors however for Kepa, Chilwell, Disasi, Broja and Sterling, it’s OVER for them. 

Kepa Arrizabalaga is out of the Chelsea project. Bournemouth are open to keeping the player on a permanent transfer. 

If Chelsea get a good proposal for João Félix, I think he could possibly leave permanently. The door is not closed at Chelsea, though.

(via@FabrizioRomano)

 

🟣A lot of planning is going into this as well as possible exits. The desire is to have a group of 23 to 24 outfield players who the club believe will be strong enough to compete in the Premier League, domestic cups and European competition should they qualify.

Chelsea sources have revealed the club intend to do the majority of their in’s and out’s by the end of June, including a striker and right footed winger. Chelsea have been working on these deals for months.

Chelsea are confident they can sell many of the current loan players because they have benefitted from playing elsewhere, apart from Andrey Santos, who is staying. 

(via@SJohnsonSport)

 

🔴FC Liverpool are set to beat Chelsea and Newcastle to the summer signing of Marc Guehi.

The Reds held talks THIS WEEK with Marc Guehi's representatives. Guehi is expected to leave Crystal Palace.

The Palace star for a cut-price fee of around £50-60 million in this summer. 

(via@DaveOCKOP & @SportsPeteO)

⚫️David Ornstein recently confirmed that Isak is a Liverpool target.

Any move for Isak would likely shatter Liverpool’s transfer record, currently standing at the £85 million package paid for Darwin Nunez. Reports suggest Newcastle would demand well in excess of £100 million for their prized asset.

And it seems that the Reds are now looking to accelerate a transfer for the Swedish international.

 

🟤The thinking is that sales will fund the purchase of a centre-forward and winger, while also being good for the books in general. Players will still be loaned out too. For example, Mathis Amougou is already being lined up to join Strasbourg.

(via@TheAthleticFC)

Edited March 24, 2025 by mkh

[Thor 2,817]

I wouldn't get rid of Sancho for that. 

Our wingers have all been shocking lately, and I'd put it down to tactics more so than anything. For 20 mil total or whatever it was, Sancho is definitely worth it as an impact player. 

[Mário César 1,475]

So guehi will.go to.liverpool

[King Kante 1,643]

2 hours ago, Thor said:

I wouldn't get rid of Sancho for that. 

Our wingers have all been shocking lately, and I'd put it down to tactics more so than anything. For 20 mil total or whatever it was, Sancho is definitely worth it as an impact player. 

You do realise his current output is what he produced at Utd for his entire time there? 

Forget about his Bundesliga form. Werner was also a 'goal/assist machine' there as well, along with a host of other players like Nkunku and Jovic etc. 

Edited March 24, 2025 by King Kante

[Special Juan 28,730]

The tossers at the top will probably think Sancho has been excellent, so he will probably stay

[Vesper 31,037]

3 hours ago, Mário César said:

So guehi will.go to.liverpool

good

[DDA 10,204]

Fuck Sancho. Fuck These owners.

No mention of a CB??

Look forward to another season of watching us concede stupid goal after stupid goal and not competing with the top 6.

 

[Stats 7,225]

I would keep him on the basis that although he has not had much output with G/A in past few months, he shown early season form which was encouraging and a lot of our players in the new year including Palmer have looked below their best. I am not expecting Sancho to score and assist bucket loads but he has shown glimpses of what he can do and with Mudryk situation uncertain and fact that he still has re-sale value, I would say keep him on. In a scenario where he stays and he has not kicked, on we still would be able to get decent money from him.

[Vesper 31,037]

only winger tagets I want to hear about

Vinicius Junior   
Florian Wirtz     
Jamal Musiala
Rodrygo
Bradley Barcola  
Kenan Yildiz