Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders has admitted he wasn’t fazed by being left sat on the bench during the Club World Cup.
[Voetbal Primeur cover an interview](https://www.voetbalprimeur.be/nieuws/1702495/mike-penders-over-wk-clubs-met-chelsea.html) with the goalkeeper today, in which he explains why he wasn’t bothered by a summer sat on the sidelines.
Penders returned to Chelsea this summer from a season-long loan deal at Genk. He joined the Blues from the same club last year but was left in Belgium to continue his development.
There was some intrigue when he returned to Stamford Bridge. The doubts over Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen had led to suggestions Penders may be given a shot at the number one spot.
That didn’t happen, though. He instead spent the summer at the Club World Cup sat on the bench as his new team went on to win it. He was then sent on loan to Strasbourg in France. They, of course, are also owned by BlueCo. Indeed, the French side have been used as something of a development area for Chelsea’s youngsters in recent years.
Penders is currently benefitting from that and admits there was plenty of advantages to his Club World Cup adventure as well.
“I didn’t play, and that’s always different, but I still got a taste of it. The win was the icing on the cake,” he said.
“It was good to tag along and get to know the group. You get a sense of the high level of training during those five weeks. All the guys were pretty friendly, too. How do you approach that? You come in, shake everyone’s hand. I’m the kind of person who immediately starts talking.
“Ultimately, you realize they’re all just great guys. Every dressing room is a bit similar, you know. You have a group of Spanish speakers, a group of English people. You end up playing cards together.”