The talented young players Chelsea have signed are all looking to impress chiefs at Stamford Bridge with their performances on loan at various clubs around Europe.
The Blues have seen that allowing Andrey Santos and Estevao Willian to feature for other sides before their debuts for the first team have helped with their development, making them genuine options for Enzo Maresca this season.
Reports of tension between Maresca and the Chelsea board have made it unclear whether it will be the Italian who is tasked with developing all of these young talents.
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Enzo Maresca annoyed watching Chelsea
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A number of those players are currently featuring regularly for BlueCo partner club Strasbourg, including Mike Penders between the sticks.
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Photo by Valentine CHAPUIS / AFP via Getty Images
Chelsea loanee Mike Penders continuing to star at Strasbourg
Chelsea have faith Penders will be in the first team squad next season, and his impressive performances this season suggest that he could do more than just be back-up for Robert Sanchez.
Strasbourg’s 0-0 draw against Lorient saw the Belgian rack up his eighth clean sheet of the season, achieving this tally in just 22 games.
He made a number of saves when the Ligue 1 side beat Crystal Palace in the Conference League. They are currently top of the group stages of that competition.
Penders was part of the travelling squad who were in the United States to win the Club World Cup, however being a more regular part of the side could be in the very near future for the youngster.
Chelsea's players lift the Club World Cup trophy after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the final.
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Sanchez has donned the gloves for nearly all of the 2025/26 campaign, earning this role due to vast improvements in his game.
This has kept Filip Jorgensen waiting on the bench, with reports coming out that Jorgensen is open to leaving Chelsea in order to get game time before the 2026 World Cup.
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With the Denmark man unlikely to continue at Stamford Bridge much longer, the opportunity is there for Penders to break into the first team squad as soon as next season.
However, it won’t be long before he is genuinely challenging Sanchez, and his superior ability with the ball at his feet at just 20 years of age would certainly suit how the current manager wants to play his football.
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