Xabi Alonso will know that he has his work cut out this summer. He is set to take over a Chelsea team that was not good enough to even qualify for Europe. That is not what the club would have been expecting when they spent close to two billion pounds on this squad. But it is the reality of the situation and they cannot run from it either.
Now, it is up to Alonso to get a tune out of this team. He is the ‘manager’, meaning he is expected to have his say on transfer matters. But with budget tight, he might need to get creative as well.
There are a lot of positions in this Chelsea squad which could be a problem. There is believed to be a focus on building the spine of the team. Of course, that includes the goalkeeper spot, which has been a problem for the Blues for some time.
Now, according to football.london, Mike Penders is set to be a part of Chelsea’s first-team squad this summer under Alonso. He is set to choose between the Belgian and Robert Sanchez.
Chelsea player wants to leave this summer
Sanchez has been the number one for Chelsea for the last few years. But for a while this season, it had looked like he had lost that spot. Liam Rosenior dropped him and gave the nod to Filip Jorgensen.
Jorgensen could handle the responsibility though. He had a horror show in the 5-2 loss away at PSG and was never really in the fold after that, with Sanchez returning as the number one again.
Now, it has emerged that Jorgensen has informed the club that he wants to leave this summer. And with Penders coming back, it is a wish that might be granted.
Jorgensen has never really impressed since joining Chelsea in a £20 million move. He seems to struggle with the physicality of the English game, can’t deal with aerial balls and has shown that he has a penchant for making mistakes, just like Sanchez.
Could Xabi Alonso’s Mike Penders decision pay off
Well, there are those who believe that Penders might not be ready to start for Chelsea yet. And, to be honest, they might be right.
That being said, Thibaut Courtois was starting regularly for Atletico Madrid at this point in his career. So, there is no reason to believe that Penders might not be capable.
We will only know if he gets the chance to do so. For now, he might be the understudy to Sanchez. But he should at least be the cup goalkeeper and we can see how he does then.
As for a rumoured move for Mike Maignan, it looks like that is off the table. And that might be the right step. If Chelsea are convinced that Penders is the right man for the long-term goalkeeping spot then it would not make any sense to bring in the Frenchman.
That would block that number one role for the next few years to come. Now, Penders can be the cover for a year or two, before taking over, if he proves himself to be good enough, of course.