Incoming Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso faces a lot of tough decisions this summer, not only off the pitch but also what he wants from his new team on the field
16:00, 16 Jun 2026
Xabi Alonso
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Xabi Alonso faces some huge decisions regarding his Chelsea squad this summer(Image: Guillermo Martinez/NurPhoto)
Plenty of Chelsea players face uncertain futures this summer. At the time of writing, Robert Sanchez does not seem to be one of them.
There is nothing to suggest the Spanish goalkeeper will be playing his football away from Stamford Bridge next season. In the 2025/26 campaign, Sanchez was arguably the Blues' most consistent performer up until the new year. However, his form took a big dip during Liam Rosenior's time in charge.
It didn't help that Rosenior dropped the former Brighton shot-stopper for Chelsea's crunch Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain in March - a match they ended up losing with Filip Jorgensen 's second-half mistake proving costly.
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When Sanchez was eventually reintroduced to the side, his confidence - unsurprisingly - looked shot. It seems Sanchez will not have to compete with Jorgensen for too much longer.
As reported towards the end of last month, Jorgensen, who has spent his time at Chelsea as Sanchez's understudy, wants out of the club this summer. The Denmark international has played 36 times for the Blues in all competitions since signing from Villarreal two summers ago but believes his best route for regular minutes will be away from Stamford Bridge.
Jorgensen informed Chelsea's head of global goalkeeping Ben Roberts in a face-to-face meeting last month that he wishes to leave before the start of the new season. The Blues will sanction Jorgensen's move away should the right offer arrive with the club looking towards the future with incoming signing Mike Penders.
The 20-year-old goalkeeper signed for Chelsea in late-August 2024 but spent the 2024/25 campaign with Genk. When Penders officially arrived at the Blues last summer, he was loaned to sister club Strasbourg for the 25/26 season and flourished for the BlueCo-owned side.
Mike Penders
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Chelsea have big plans for Mike Penders(Image: Emilian Baldow/Icon Sport)
Chelsea, sources have told football.london , are prepared to give Penders an opportunity to impress Xabi Alonso this summer during the club's pre-season tour of Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia. Penders is currently with the Belgium squad for their World Cup campaign but was, as expected, on the bench for the Red Devils' 1-1 draw with Egypt on Monday evening.
Thibaut Courtois, widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in world football, played for Belgium in Seattle. It seems highly unlikely that Penders will get on the pitch at all for his country this summer given Courtois' status and Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens the likely No.2 for Rudi Garcia.
Alonso will be forced to wait to watch Penders in action this summer, as the newly-appointed Chelsea manager, who officially starts his role on July 1, would have expected given the Belgium goalkeeping pecking order. Instead, Alonso will welcome Penders to his Blues squad while they are on the other side of the world next month/early-August.
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When Penders officially joins up with his new teammates remains to be seen and is likely to be determined by how far Belgium go in the World Cup. Alonso will be hoping to have some sort of idea who he wants as his No.1 goalkeeper by the time the new season begins in August.